Ole Peter Hansen Balling, 13 Apr 1823 - 1 May 1906
Sitter
Ulysses Simpson Grant, 27 Apr 1822 - 23 Jul 1885
Exhibition Label
Born Point Pleasant, Ohio
At the beginning of the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant served as a brigadier general until his victory at Fort Donelson, Tennessee, in 1862, when his terms were “unconditional surrender.” President Abraham Lincoln promoted him to lieutenant general in 1864, granting him command of all the Union armies. Grant created the Army of the Shenandoah, which protected the capital and routed the Confederates out of the Virginia valley. He also supported the service of approximately two hundred thousand Black men—close to ten percent of the Union army. Black soldiers were, he declared, “the heaviest blow yet given the Confederacy.”
Norwegian-born artist Ole Peter Hansen Balling briefly served as a Union soldier at the start of the Civil War but returned to painting after being wounded. This portrait depicts Grant in a trench during the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg; the map on the table beside him shows the area along the Mississippi River.
Nacido en Point Pleasant, Ohio
Ulysses S. Grant fue brigadier general desde principios de la Guerra Civil hasta su victoria de 1862 en el Fuerte Donelson, Tennessee, cuando exigió la “rendición incondicional”. El presidente Abraham Lincoln lo ascendió a teniente general en 1864 y le entregó el mando de todos los ejércitos de la Unión. Grant creó el Ejército del Shenandoah, que defendió la capital y expulsó a los confederados del valle de Virginia. Asimismo respaldó el servicio de unos 200,000 soldados negros, cerca del diez por ciento del ejército de la Unión. Los soldados negros, declaró, fueron “el mayor golpe asestado hasta hoy a la Confederación”.
El artista noruego Ole Peter Hansen Balling luchó con la Unión a principios de la Guerra Civil, pero volvió a la pintura luego de ser herido. Aquí muestra a Grant en una trinchera durante el asedio a Vicksburg en 1863. El mapa abierto sobre la mesa muestra el área a lo largo del río Misisipi.
Provenance
The artist until 1875; Hermann Linde, publisher, New York. (Adams, Davidson Galleries, Washington, D.C.); purchased 1967 NPG.
See more items in
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Exhibition
Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
On View
NPG, East Gallery 111
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Object number
NPG.67.34
Type
Painting
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Sight: 120.3 x 94.6cm (47 3/8 x 37 1/4")
Frame (Without shield & eagle): 188 x 161.9 x 15.2cm (74 x 63 3/4 x 6")
