Boston Irish artist Lambert Hollis' famous sketch of Abraham Lincoln's Visit to Richmond, VA in 1865
Lambert Hollis (ca.1837-1923), a notable Boston Irish artist during his lifetime but forgotten over time, was an exquisite artist who painted church murals, floral and interior design and numerous illustrations for books, greeting cards, calendars and other ephemera of the late 19th century.
But his most famous work is the extraordinary ink and wash drawing he sketched of President Abraham Lincoln on his visit to Richmond Virginia on April 3, 1865, just days after Confederate forces evacuated the city, which had been designated the Confederacy capital.
Hollis, along with several other artists and journalists, "had accompanied the presidential party and captured the jubilation of the moment," according to the Smithsonian.
Charles Charleton Coffin, a reporter for the Boston Journal, was with Hollis and the others. He later wrote in The Atlantic that Lincoln "entered the city unheralded... (but soon) encountered forty or fifty freedmen, who had been sole possessors of themselves for twenty-four hours...They gathered round the President, ran ahead, hovered upon the flanks of the little company....Men, women, and children joined the constantly increasing throng. They came from all the by-streets, running in breathless haste, shouting and hallooing and dancing with delight. The men threw up their hats, the women waved their bonnets and handkerchiefs, clapped their hands, and sang, 'Glory to God! glory! glory! glory!'"
Hollis' illustration captured the essence of this historic moment, and became widely distributed thanks to an engraving by John Chester Buttre, a distinguished steel-plate engraver and lithographer, who created some 3,000 engraved portraits of American political, naval and military personalities over his career.
Lambert emigrated with his father and siblings from Ireland to Boston in 1855, and the family settled north of Boston around North Reading, Woburn and Wakefield. Lambert had a studio on Tremont Street in Downtown Boston, where he worked alongside fellow Irishman Martin Milmore and his brothers Joseph and James. He also worked for Louis Prang, an American printer, lithographer and publisher who is often called the Father of the American Christmas Card.
Hollis was part of a tight knit group of Irish emigrants living in Boston who associated with each other and who frequented the Botolph Club and Papyrus Club. He was a pall bearer at the funeral of sculptor Martin Milmore, and close friends with Irish expatriate John Boyle O'Reilly, a popular poet, editor and orator. He helped fellow-country Patrick S. Gilmore design the interior of Boston's Peace Jubilee coliseums in 1869 and 1872.
In later years, Hollis fell upon hard times. He and his sister Anna returned to Wakefield and eventually sought admission to the Town Farm, a place for indigent citizens. He died on February 10, 1923 at age 86. The Boston Globe wrote the following obituary:
Hollis' illustration captured the essence of this historic moment, and became widely distributed thanks to an engraving by John Chester Buttre, a distinguished steel-plate engraver and lithographer, who created some 3,000 engraved portraits of American political, naval and military personalities over his career.
Lambert emigrated with his father and siblings from Ireland to Boston in 1855, and the family settled north of Boston around North Reading, Woburn and Wakefield. Lambert had a studio on Tremont Street in Downtown Boston, where he worked alongside fellow Irishman Martin Milmore and his brothers Joseph and James. He also worked for Louis Prang, an American printer, lithographer and publisher who is often called the Father of the American Christmas Card.
Hollis was part of a tight knit group of Irish emigrants living in Boston who associated with each other and who frequented the Botolph Club and Papyrus Club. He was a pall bearer at the funeral of sculptor Martin Milmore, and close friends with Irish expatriate John Boyle O'Reilly, a popular poet, editor and orator. He helped fellow-country Patrick S. Gilmore design the interior of Boston's Peace Jubilee coliseums in 1869 and 1872.
In later years, Hollis fell upon hard times. He and his sister Anna returned to Wakefield and eventually sought admission to the Town Farm, a place for indigent citizens. He died on February 10, 1923 at age 86. The Boston Globe wrote the following obituary:
"Once well- known artist in Boston and a high salaried man, much sought after by leading art connoisseurs, Lambert Hollis has died at the Town Farm here. Ten years ago came to Wakefield and he was a familiar figure as he walked along the streets, his white hair and long beard attracting snowy much attention. He was 86 years old and, with his sister, Miss Annie Hollis, applied for admission at the farm a month ago. As Hollis walked about Wakefield few knew that the hand that fumbled with the dangling coat button was the same hand that painted portraits and scenes that hung in homes off wealthy Boston residents or adorned public buildings."
Learn more about other Boston Irish artists, musicians, military heroes and public officials, and discover more history on the Boston Irish Heritage Trail.
Research + Text, Michael Quinlin
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