A Labor of Love: The Life & Art of Vinnie Ream

The book presents the life and work of Vinnie Ream, the first woman and the youngest artist to ever receive a U.S. Government commission for a statue. Her full-size marble figure of Abraham Lincoln in the U.S. Capitol rotunda was unveiled in 1871. She received the coveted commission in 1866 at the age of 18. This book gives the true story of that dramatic struggle. It chronicles a young woman artist's spiritual mission and triumph over adversity amid the fight for final acceptance of Abraham Lincoln's ideas. Vinnie Ream was awarded the job over many experienced competitors. This brought flak in the press toward the artist and her supportive congressmen from journalists who favored other sculptors. Her departure from the cloying conventions of the times brought down the wrath of neoclassic art critics. She was called a "fraud" and a "humbug" by male competitors and by envious women detractors and eastern art cliques who paraded the distortion that "men did her work." As an attractive woman, she was accused of influencing congressman with "feminine wiles." Allegations that the artist and her family were "secessionists" and her true role in the Civil War and post-war politics is studied. The artist's eviction from the U.S. Capitol due to her perceived role in the failed 1868 impeachment of Andrew Johnson is examined. The book presents Vinnie Ream's inspiring story and ardent philosophy of life. The information it contains came from hundreds of sources and is the end result of many years of study. It shows the known art of Vinnie Ream in many rare, unpublished pictures and contains over 30 portraits of the artist--along with selected poems, writings and lectures by this great woman who had a key influence on our culture, by Glenn V. Sherwood.