Jacques Reich, 10 Aug 1852 - 8 Jul 1923 - Samuel Jones Tilden - c. 1899-1920 - T-Shirt

A pen-and-ink portrait of Samuel J. Tilden, drawn in fine, sparse hatching on a bare pale ground, gives you a measured, attentive study of a public man.

Visual Elements & Composition

The off-white ground dominates, with a warm grey mount framing the sheet. The figure is shown bust-length and turned three-quarters toward the viewer, with short, smoothly combed hair, a dark coat, a high white collar and a dark bow tie. Shading is kept to the eyes, cheeks and under the jaw, while the background holds only a few light strokes behind the shoulder. The caption S. J. Tilden sits lower left, the printed inscription Scribner Gift lower right, and the artist's signature falls beside the lapel.

Meaning & Symbolism

Tilden (1814 to 1886) was a New York lawyer and reform Democrat who served as governor of New York and reduced the influence of the Tweed machine in the state. He was the Democratic candidate in the 1876 presidential election, winning the popular vote but losing the disputed electoral count to Rutherford B. Hayes, a contest settled by the Compromise of 1877. The portrait records a public man whose career turned on electoral fairness and the authority of government. Jacques Reich (1852 to 1923) worked as an illustrator and portraitist, and his pen drawings belong to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century practice of supplying portraits for periodicals and print.

Made for the Close View

A drawing this fine rewards close attention, and a tee is worn at close range, so the restrained hatching and quiet caption read clearly as the wearer moves and as the shirt is seen up close in conversation. The sober, unhurried mood of the original carries straight onto the chest.