Jacques Reich, 10 Aug 1852 - 8 Jul 1923 - William Henry Harrison - c. 1899-1920 - T-Shirt

A pen-and-ink portrait of William Henry Harrison, drawn with a direct gaze and a serious, level expression.

Visual Elements & Composition

Ink black dominates, built up from fine hatching that follows the cheek and brow and from cross-hatching that gives the dark, high-collared coat its weight. The figure fills a vertical rectangle in bust-length, three-quarter view, with a dark cravat knotted above a pale shirt front. Light diagonal strokes at the edges suggest the background, and the warm cream paper shows through everywhere else. The artist's signature, Jacques Reich, sits in the lower right below the lapel.

Meaning & Symbolism

Harrison (1773 to 1841) was a soldier, Governor of the Indiana Territory and the ninth President of the United States, who served only one month before his death in 1841. His reputation rested on the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811 and on campaigns in the Northwest Territory during the War of 1812, and his 1840 campaign popularised the slogan Tippecanoe and Tyler Too. Reich's portrait favours plainness over courtly display, presenting a resolute man of frontier command. Reich (1852 to 1923) worked as an illustrator and portraitist, and his pen drawings of notable figures reflect the late nineteenth and early twentieth century practice of reproducing public men through engraved-style line work.

Wearing the Portrait

Hatching this dense reads best at close range, so the design rewards a second look when the shirt is worn in conversation or held up for a closer view. The portrait is composed as a single, centred figure, which suits a shirt where the face sits at the chest and the viewer meets the same direct gaze the artist drew.