Jacques Reich, 10 Aug 1852 - 8 Jul 1923 - Franklin Pierce - c. 1899-1920 - T-Shirt

A pen-and-ink portrait of Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth President of the United States, drawn in close parallel hatching that builds a composed, formal likeness.

Visual Elements & Composition

The figure is a three-quarter portrait set on a pale grey-green ground, with the ink black of the hatching dominating the sheet. The sitter turns slightly toward the viewer, his wavy dark hair brushed back from a broad brow. His coat is modelled with crossed strokes and darker accents at the shoulder and lapel, and a high white collar meets a dark cravat knotted at the throat. A warm grey mount frames the vertical rectangle, with the inscription Pierce, President Franklin written across the upper left and the artist's signature at the lower right of the figure.

Meaning & Symbolism

The portrait follows the conventions of mid-nineteenth-century official likeness, where a statesman was shown sober, controlled and dignified rather than in action. Pierce, a New Hampshire lawyer and politician, served from 1853 to 1857, a presidency shaped by the sectional conflict over slavery and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The drawing is signed by Jacques Reich, who lived from 1852 to 1923, and the work dates from about 1899 to 1920. Reich's fine, evenly modulated linework gives the coat its depth through layered hatching.

Wearing the Portrait

Pen-and-ink hatching rewards a close look, and a tee keeps the drawing in that intimate range: the layered lines of the coat and the crisp white collar read clearly as the wearer moves. The mounted border and inscription give the design a clear top and bottom, so the portrait sits centred on the chest as Reich composed it.