Lincoln Painting Once in White House to Go on Display at Roosevelt Library

A New York collector has arranged for an oil painting of Abraham Lincoln to be displayed at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora, North Dakota, when the facility opens on July 4. The painting was created in 1899 by American realist Ernest Wells and given to Roosevelt in 1903. Roosevelt hung it in his White House office, where it remained for six years.

Roosevelt gave the portrait to his chief disbursing officer when he left office in 1909. The officer sold it in 1912 to J.P. Morgan, whose librarian documented the transaction. The painting later entered private hands and was purchased at auction by the collector's family in 1975. The collector began researching its background in 2021 after receiving it from a relative.

The collector contacted the library for help authenticating the piece. Library officials agreed to borrow it for the opening exhibit, which will recreate its placement in Roosevelt's office. A library spokesman said the portrait will be accompanied by an interactive display allowing visitors to ask questions about its significance to Roosevelt.

The collector said the family wants the painting to remain accessible to the public rather than return to private ownership.