+ Expand

Description: Ulysses S. Grant, City Point, Virginia. Albumen print, 7 1/4x4 3/4 inches (18.4x12.1 cm.), with "No. 186," "36," and another illegible notation in the negative in reverse. 1864

+ Expand

Notes: A rare and surprisingly casual portrait of the leader of the Union Army. This photograph was taken by Brady himself when he joined the troops in Virginia, between the Battle of Cold Harbor and the Siege of Petersburg. Brady's photographs of Grant were generally taken in the studio or with Grant stiffly sitting with his men in the field. The rakish tilt of his hat, the thrust out hip, and the tired, but slightly bemused, expression on his face show a side of Grant that is less like a General and more like a common man than any other portrait of him.

Matthew Brady was considered the most prominent American portrait photographer of his time. Brady moved from upstate New York to New York City in his late teens. Already skilled in the arts, he became a maker of jewelry cases and sought to learn more about the art of photography. Within his first year in the city he met the inventor Samuel Morse who taught him photography. By his early 20s, Brady had opened his own portrait studio in New York City. In 1844 Brady opened an additional studio in Washington D.C. and began his project "The Gallery of Illustrious Americans." Brady was able to photograph the most renowned and influential men and women in the United States.