Artillery, Quartermaster Sergeant
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative with applied color
Dimensions
Image: 20.3 × 14.8 cm (8 × 5 13/16 in.) Mount: 33.3 x 25.9 cm (13 1/8 x 10 3/16 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Fund, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2010
Accession Number
2010.34
Tags
Art Historical Context
Captured in 1866, just a year after the American Civil War's end, *Artillery, Quarterm Sergeant* is a poignant albumen silver print by Oliver H. Willard, a photographer active during the conflict. This intimate portrait depicts a Union Army quartermaster sergeant, responsible for vital supplies and logistics, standing in uniform against a plain backdrop. Measuring about 8 by 6 inches on its image, the photograph's modest scale invites close viewing, evoking the personal stories behind the war's vast machinery. Willard's use of a glass negative, hand-tinted with applied color, exemplifies mid-...
About the Artist
Oliver H. Willard · 1775–1875
Oliver H. Willard (1828–1875) was an American photographer based in Philadelphia, where he operated O.H. Willard's Galleries at 1206 Chestnut Street..jpg) Born in Windham, Vermont, Willard established a reputation in the mid-19th century for his portraiture, particularly during the Civil War era, using techniques like salted paper prints from glass negatives and albumen silver prints. His early li...