Statue of Abraham Lincoln 1926

Curator: There's a quiet dignity about this piece. It's Otto J. Schneider's "Statue of Abraham Lincoln" held here at the Harvard Art Museums. It feels like a memory rendered in sepia tones. Editor: A monument, yes, but also a study in power and representation. Lincoln is up high, overlooking what? Who gets to decide who we memorialize and why? Curator: Well, perhaps Schneider was capturing the inherent tension between myth and reality. That thoughtful repose, the backdrop of blurred urbanity...it's all so... American. Editor: I see the ideal of "American," but I also see the erasure. Where are the Indigenous narratives? Where are the voices of the enslaved, those most impacted by Lincoln's choices? Curator: Maybe Schneider’s choice of medium – the etching, the lines – hints at the incompleteness of any single narrative. Editor: Perhaps. But art isn't neutral. Even the most seemingly benign image carries a weight, a perspective. It's our job to unpack it. Curator: And maybe to remember that even statues have shadows.