| Names: | | | Dates: | 1821, 17 October - 1882, 10 December | | Born: | Great Britain, Scotland, Paisley | | Died: | US, Washington | | Active: | US |
American photographer who photographed the American Civil War - initially with Mathew Brady. In 1867 he became the Official Photographer of the Union Pacific Railway, Eastern Division, which later became the Kansas Pacific.
Stereoscopic photographer, backlists on stereoviews. Active: Washington, D.C.
The DeGolyer Library (Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275-0396, USA) has a copy of the Gardner 127 plate 1867-1868 western landscape portfolio, Across the Continent on the Kansas Pacific Railroad (Route of the 35th Parallel) which was the first comprehensive western landscape survey.
[With thanks to Anne Peterson]
His obituary in the New York Times (Dec 11, 1882, p.5) read:
"Alexander Gardner, a well-known citizen of Washington, who achieved a national reputation during the late war by his photographic work with the Army of the Potomac and who has been for several years prominently connected with Masonic and other relief associations, died yesterday morning of diabetes at the age of 61. He was born in Paisley, Scotland, and emigrated to America in 1850. He was the originator of the National Relief Association and has been an officer of it since 1874."
Stereographs project
Business locations
Washington, DC, US
Lawrence, KS, US
Leavenworth, KS, US
Ellsworth, KS, US
Hays, KS, US
*[5-7] "Photographed and Published by..."; "...'s Gallery", 921 Penn Ave.; "...'s Photographic Art Gallery", 511 Seventh St., Washington; important worker who issued many fine series: "Views at Mt. Vernon, Va.", B/L, 50+, for the Ladies Mt. Vernon Assoc.; "Across
the Continent on the Union Pacific Railway,
Eastern Division", ~150 views, 67-68; "Across
the Continent on the Kansas Pacific Railroad,
1867", ~115 views; "White House, Washington,
DC", CR 65; "Incidents of War", 63-66;
"Photographic History/War for the Union", pub.
by Anthony, 63; early views on SCMs; many views
credited to O'Sullivan, Gibson, & Barnard; some
pub. by Solomons and Chapman; also made SI
formats. B. 21; Scotsman brought to this
country by Mathew B. Brady, 56; managed Brady's
Washington Gallery, 58-62; opened own gallery in
Washington, 63; son's name was James; D. 82;
listed in Lawrence, Leavenworth, Ellsworth, and
Hays, KS 67 and in DC 58. Imprint also seen as
"& Son". Brother of R.G. Gardner of Maquoketa,
IA.
T.K. Treadwell & William C. Darrah (Compiled by), Wolfgang, Sell (Updated by), 11/28/2003, Photographers of the United States of America, (National Stereoscopic Association) |
| Credit: National Stereoscopic Association with corrections and additions by Alan Griffiths and others. |
| NOTE: You are probably here because you have a stereograph to identify. Please email good quality copies of the front and back to alan@luminous-lint.com so we can create reference collections for all. |
Preparing biographies
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Family history
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Exhibitions on this website |
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| Getty Research, Los Angeles, USA has an ULAN (Union List of Artists Names Online) entry for this photographer. This is useful for checking names and they frequently provide a brief biography. | | Go to website | Grove Art Online (www.groveart.com) has a biography of this artist.
[NOTE: This is a subscription service and you will need to pay an annual fee to access the content.] | Show on this site | Go to website |
Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War
https://rmc.library.cornell.edu ...
An excellent resource by Cornell University Library on an important record of the American Civil War.
| The Golden Age of Western Photography - Section One: 1858 -1875
https://www.andrewsmithgallery.com ...
Created by the Andrew Smith Gallery in Santa Fe, NM, USA.
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The following books are useful starting points to obtain brief biographies but they are not substitutes for the monographs on individual photographers. |
• Auer, Michele & Michel 1985 Encyclopedie Internationale Des Photographes de 1839 a Nos Jours / Photographers Encylopaedia International 1839 to the present (Hermance, Editions Camera Obscura) 2 volumes [A classic reference work for biographical information on photographers.]
• Beaton, Cecil & Buckland, Gail 1975 The Magic Eye: The Genius of Photography from 1839 to the Present Day (Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown & Company) p.61 [Useful short biographies with personal asides and one or more example images.]
• Capa, Cornell (ed.) 1984 The International Center of Photography: Encyclopedia of Photography (New York, Crown Publishers, Inc. - A Pound Press Book) p.221
• Lenman, Robin (ed.) 2005 The Oxford Companion to the Photograph (Oxford: Oxford University Press) [Includes a short biography on Alexander Gardner.]
• Weaver, Mike (ed.) 1989 The Art of Photography 1839-1989 (New Haven and London: Yale University Press) p.458 [This exhibition catalogue is for the travelling exhibition that went to Houston, Canberra and London in 1989.]
• Witkin, Lee D. and Barbara London 1979 The Photograph Collector’s Guide (London: Secker and Warburg) p.148-149 [Long out of print but an essential reference work - the good news is that a new edition is in preparation.]
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If there is an analysis of a single photograph or a useful self portrait I will highlight it here. |
Photographic collections are a useful means of examining large numbers of photographs by a single photographer on-line.
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Library of Congress, Washington, USA
Approximate number of records: 241
Note: A single record may contain more than one photograph. | Click here |
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