Edition of 26
William Quigley – Dead Soldier / Civil War Series
Original oil on canvas, 60 × 72 in.
Estimate: $65,000 – $80,000
The original painting is represented on the secondary market by The Bonnier Gallery inquiries for interest may be directed to the gallery.
This print originates from William Quigley’s 1995 Los Angeles Civil War series, inspired by the relentless imagery of the “11 O’Clock News.” The work examines how daily conflict — in America and globally — is fueled by racism, crime, political division, and the deeper human impulses that ignite violence and war.
Quigley’s studio stood near the epicenter of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which erupted on April 29 — his birthday — marking a profound personal and civic inflection point.
Conceived just one month before its opening on October 13, 1995, the exhibition comprised 16 paintings, a carved sculpture of a 15-year-old Black Union soldier, and a 40-page hand-painted book interpreting a Civil War diary. This print draws inspiration from the soldiers on both sides of the conflict — the approximately 2.1 million Union troops and 1 to 1.2 million Confederate soldiers who fought between 1861 and 1865. With an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 deaths, the Civil War remains the deadliest conflict in American history. The average age of a Civil War soldier was just 26 years old, a stark reminder of the youth and vulnerability of the men who carried the weight of the war.
The visual memory of the conflict was shaped in large part by Mathew Brady, whose studio produced more than 10,000 photographic images of soldiers, battlefields, and military leaders. Thousands of Brady’s glass-plate negatives are now preserved in the collections of the Library of Congress, forming one of the most significant photographic archives of 19th-century America.
The edition is limited to 26 prints, referencing the average age of the Civil War soldier — a disciplined and symbolic tribute to the young men on both sides who defined the conflict. This is a rare print, produced in only one size for the entire edition, reinforcing its exclusivity and cohesion.
Hand-signed. Artist-supervised. Archival museum-quality print.
Limited edition of 26.
