Original 1927 Signed Litho Portrait of Gen. Robert E. Lee by Richmond Artist Ellis M. Silvette

Original 1927 Signed Litho Portrait of Gen. Robert E. Lee by Richmond Artist Ellis M. Silvette – A haunting lithograph / print that is a copy of a painting completed in 1927 by Richmond artist Ellis M. Silvette for the Confederate Museum in Richmond Virginia. This print, which was published by Silvette, depicts Gen. Lee in uniform and features Silvette’s signature in the lower right corner of the surrounding mat and a dated copyright by Silvette in the lower left corner of the print; there is a facsimile signature of Gen. Lee on the lower center of the mat, directly below the print. Silvette, an established portrait artist who was living in Richmond in the 1920s, used the famed photograph by Richmond photographer, Julian Vannerson, taken in March 1864, as the basis of his painting. Giles B. Cooke, a former member of Lee’s staff, viewed the portrait by Silvette and declared it “a speaking likeness…and in every respect perfect.” (letter, Cooke to Silvette, April 21, 1927; photocopy in the museum’s files). The print remains in excellent condition with fine color, with some slight foxing to the mat; the print is housed in its original, c. 1920s frame. According to Silvette family descendants, the artist used the eyes of his father, Jacob Silverberg (a Jewish-American immigrant from Lithuania), as the model for Lee’s eyes in his painting. The artist’s interpretation of the original photograph (Vannerson 1864) adjusted the focus of Lee’s gaze directly towards the viewer, as recalled by the artist’s youngest daughter, who related her recollection to her younger son during the early 1980s. This recollection was submitted to the Museum curators in 2017.

Measurements: Frame – 15 3/4″ x 13 1/4″;  Sight – 13″ x 10 1/2″

Ellis Meyer Silvette (1876-1940) was an American portrait painter. He was born in 1876 in Naishtot (later Kudirkos Naumiestes), Lithuania, to Jewish parents. The family immigrated to Manchester, England, and then Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The family name was Silverberg, likely changed upon arrival in the USA; the artist later known as Ellis Meyer Silvette was known at this time as Eli Meyer Silverberg. He attended school in Pittsburgh, and was formally trained as an artist under Martin Leisser and Henry Keller; he also studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Germany. His interests were photography and painting. He moved back to Pittsburgh and worked as an artist under the name “E. Meyer Silverberg.” In 1919, he and his family relocated to New York City, New York, and legally changed his name to “Ellis M. Silvette,” to obscure his Jewish heritage for business purposes. In the mid-1920s, he and his family relocated to Richmond, Virginia, for health reasons, and where he continued to work as an artist. He died in Richmond in 1940, and is buried in the Hebrew Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.