General McClellan and Staff
ca. 1863
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 9 × 14 in. (22.9 × 35.6 cm)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Museum Purchase, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.1216
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the turbulent world of the American Civil War with Alexander Gardner's *General McClellan and Staff (ca. 1863), a striking albumen silver print that captures Union General George B. Mcan surrounded by his officers. Gardner, a Scottish-born photographer who became one of the era's most renowned documentarians after working with Mathew Brady, this image to immortalize a key figure in the Union's early war efforts. McClellan, known for his meticulous organization and the Peninsula Campaign of 1862, posed confidently with his staff, their uniforms and postures evoking the discipline and ...
About the Artist
Alexander Gardner
Alexander Gardner was born on 17 October 1821 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, and came of age in a culture shaped by radical social thought. Influenced by the cooperative ideals of Robert Owen, Gardner initially apprenticed as a jeweler and harbored dreams of founding a utopian community in America. His encounter with photography changed the course of his life. After seeing Mathew Brady's cele...