From the exhibition
Rear Admiral Winfield S. Schley
Jacques Reich · 1899

Jacques Reich's ink portrait captures Rear Admiral Winfield Scott Schley, a prominent naval officer of the Spanish-American War era. The drawing employs fine crosshatching and line work characteristic of late-nineteenth-century newspaper illustration, a technique that directly informed early comic art. This sketch exemplifies the portraiture that populated periodicals and newspapers of the period, showcasing the foundational drawing skills and tonal modeling that cartoonists would adapt to sequential storytelling. The formal bust composition was standard for commemorative newspaper imagery during an era when such illustrations served as primary visual documentation in mass media.
Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com CC0