Edwin Hale Lincoln 1848-1938

Modernist Botanical Photographs

“With slow looking, each print becomes a marvel of order and ornament. Nature itself emerges as an artist of infinite inventiveness.” –Ken Johnson

Edwin Hale Lincoln was born in Westminster, Massachusetts in 1848, the son of a Universalist minister. He served as a drummer in the Civil War and then as a page in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. In his late 20s Lincoln was a partner in a photography business, which led to his life’s passion– a 20-year project that in 1914 culminated in a 400-picture catalog called Wild Flowers of New England. Baker Schorr is delighted to show 50 of the pictures in this exhibition, all first edition platinum prints from 8 x 10 glass negatives taken in 1906 and 1907. The photographs measure 9 3/8 x 73/8 inches; sheet size 14 x 11 3/4 inches, framed 17 x 15 3/4 inches.

Both modernist and transcendentalist, Lincoln’s use of the platinum process, along with close-up shots taken against flat backgrounds, resulted in tonally complex images with remarkable depth. In the spirit of Thoreau, Lincoln’s procedure was to dig up his floral specimens, take them to his studio for their portraits and then return them, still living, to their homes. Lincoln’s compositions are cropped so that each perfect arrangement of blossoms, stems and leaves verges on abstraction, with a beauty almost severe.

Outside Panel

Cover right: Jane Piper What’s Left of Flowers, 1970 Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 52 inches

Back cover: Jane Piper Flowers in Front of a Seated Figure, 1989 Oil on canvas, 40 x 44 inches

Split Image on gatefold: Edwin Hale Lincoln Burdock, Great Bur, 1907

Jane Piper

Flowers by a Dark Window, 1984-87

Oil on canvas, 42 x 48 inches