Life — February 14, 1918 — page 21: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This Life magazine page presents artistic renderings of Abraham Lincoln in different styles. The caption indicates these are examples of how various famous painters might have depicted the 16th president. The page shows: - **Raphael** and **Millet**: Lincoln in religious or pastoral contexts - **Rembrandt**: A dark, portrait-style rendering - **Whistler**: Lincoln seated indoors in contemporary dress - **Futurist** (lower right): An abstract, chaotic composition The satire appears to mock how different artistic movements and famous painters would approach the same subject, each imposing their distinctive style. The "Futurist" example especially parodies modernist abstraction as incomprehensible fragmentation—a common early 20th-century critique of avant-garde art movements.