[Signed] ABRAHAM LINCOLN FREED THE SLAVES AND PRESERVED THE UNION: Original Watercolor and Color Pencil Study for Murals in the Lincoln Memorial Shri

Original watercolor and color pencil drawing on artist board. Size: 9 inches by 18 inches. Dean Cornwell (1892-1960) studied under Howard Pyle's student, Harvey Dunn, and the influence of the Brandywine School in much of Cornwell's work. Nicknamed ""The Dean of Illustrators"" by his peers, Cornwell completed more than 1,000 paintings as illustrations for stories and advertisements in books and magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Life, Redbook and many others. Although he was very successful as an illustrator, Cornwell decided to become a muralist; so, in the late 1920s he spent 3 years in England studying mural painting with Frank Brangwyn. His first commission was to create his now famous murals for the Los Angeles Public Library. In 1932 he completed murals for the Lincoln Memorial Shrine in Redlands, California. Although the study offered here was not selected for inclusion, it may well have been the inspiration for the 2 allegorical murals he completed for the project because it includes both of the elements that were the focus of each of the selected murals: ""He Freed the Slaves"" and ""He Preserved the Union."" Included with the watercolor are 2 vintage postcards picturing the murals. Also, the scene in this study is placed atop a plinth that is quite similar to those in the murals. The study also includes the muralist technique of surrounding figures with strong outlines, which Cornwell adopted both in his own murals and in his later illustration work. Paintings by Cornwell have been exhibited in the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, the National Academy of Design, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. In 1959, he was inducted into the Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame.