The Sick Soldier

By Matthew Brady
1863
 The Life of Matthew Brady
1823-1895
• 1823- Matthew Brady is born in New York City
• 1844- Opens first photography studio in
Manhattan; calls studio the “Daguerean
Miniature Gallery”
• 1858- Opens second studio in Washington, D.C.
• 1862- Photographs aftermath of the Battle of
Antietam in On the Antietam Battlefield
• 1863- A photographer in his shop produces The
Sick Soldier
• 1895- Brady dies in New York City
 Visual Analysis

14.3 x 20.0 cm (5 5/8 x 7 7/8 in);

Two Union soldiers; the sick one sits with

his eyes closed; he is in pain; his friend,
another soldier, stands next to him
Materials and Techniques
Albumen print on paper mounted on
paperboard; photographer may have
instructed the two to “pose” as friends;
field artists battled with heat and fragile
glass in battlefields; difficult collodion
process meant most pictures were of static
subjects
 Historical Context
and Significance

• During the Civil War; assistants of

Brady ventured to the fields; viewers
favored the objectivity of the camera.

• Brought back images of war to the

home.
Cañon de Chelle
By Timothy H. O’ Sullivan
1873
The Life of Timothy H. O’Sullivan
1840-1882
• 1840- Timothy H. O’Sullivan is born in New York
City
• 1863- Photographs dead Union soldiers at
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in The Harvest of Death
• 1867- Joins the U.S. Geological Explorations West
of the 40th Parallel
• 1873- Photographs Canon de Chelle, Walls of the
Grand Canon about 1200 Feet in Height (Wheeler
• Survey)
• 1882- O’Sullivan dies
 Visual Analysis

Image and sheet:

20.3 x 27.6 cm (8 x 10 7/8 in)

Walls of the canyon act as a framing device;

three tents indicate large scale; small rocks
and trees in the foreground
Materials and Techniques

Albumen print on paper mounted on

paperboard; glass plate negative for a clear
image; O’Sullivan faced different terrain,
fragile equipment and glass plates, heat,
and sand
 Historical Context
and Significance

• Post-Civil War; time of western expansion;

the public was eager for sights of the West

• Confirmed truth behind majestic

landscape; survey trips like O’Sullivan’s
used to gather details about the
environment for settlement or
preservation.
The Westwood
Children
By Joshua Johnson
1807
 The Life of Joshua Johnson
1763-1832
• 1763- Joshua Johnson is born into slavery
• 1796- Becomes a free man
• Late 1790s- Establishes career as a portrait
painter in Boston
• 1807- Paints The Westwood Children
• 1824- Last year of active work
• 1832- Johnson dies
 Visual Analysis

104.5 x 117 cm (41 1/8 x 46 in)

Three children in green outfits, white ruffle

collars, and black boots; from left to right,
the boys are holding cherries, one flower,
and a basket of flowers; dog symbolizes
the hunt
Materials and Techniques
Oil on canvas

Objects in boys’ hands soften their stiffness

and add color; bare room helps viewer
focus on the humans; flatness of picture
space; painting required multiple sittings
by its subjects; Johnson’s style resembles
that of Charles Peale Polk
 Historical Context
and Significance
• Slavery was legal in Maryland at this time;
some free African-Americans lived in
Baltimore; other self-taught artists like Johnson
worked in the northeast and faced racial
prejudice

• Example of fine art made by an African-

American for white patrons; most black artists
faced limited patronage because of racism