Focus on this artwork and explore the The Benedict "Buck-eye".
A buck-eye cyclorama is a cyclorama painting of the same or roughly the same dimensions as an original, which is a very slavish copy. These were often created cheaply by painters of little skill and almost always with sub-standard materials. Several buck-eye cycloramas were exhibited in the United States during the time when cyclorama paintings were popular attractions, including several copies of the Gettysburg Cyclorama. Once an individual had seen a particular cyclorama, it was unlikely that they would purchase a ticket to revisit it. This meant that the low-quality copies could be exhibited with a very low risk that a ticket holder would request a refund, as they would likely never have seen the original. Tickets could be sold at the same price as the admission to see an original and the exhibitor of a buck-eye could visit the original themselves, obtain copies of all of the pamphlets and promotional materials, and have them cheaply copied for sale alongside the attraction. In fact, copy houses were formed in order to meet the demand for such paintings, one being the Milwaukee Panorama Painters.
In 1885 the Milwaukee Panorama Painters were commissioned by Mr. Myron Herrick (at that time a banker, who later twice served as the U.S. Ambassador to France) to create a copy of the Gettysburg Cyclorama, which was later purchased by E. W. McConnell (the "Cyclorama King") and exhibited by McConnell at: the Cotton States Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia in 1895; the Tennessee Centennial Exposition, Nashville, Tennessee in 1897; before moving to Louisville, Kentucky; and finally, to Nashville, Tennessee in 1898 before it was placed in storage in that city.  During the time of McConnell's ownership, McConnell sold a share of the painting to a Mr. Benedict who, in turn, sold a share of his share to a Mr. Graves.
In 1920, more than 20 years after the buck-eye had been placed into storage, Benedict informed McConnell that a flood had ruined the buck-eye painting, but failed to inform Graves.  Graves was not available to be consulted when questions from his family arose regarding the whereabouts of the buck-eye (in 1957) and the beneficiaries of Graves' Estate later made the assumption that the painting purchased by Mr. Joseph Wallace King (the Chicago Version) in 1964 was this 'missing' buck-eye painting.  The estate then launched a legal action against King, claiming that a share of the painting King had purchased was theirs. This case was settled in arbitration by the comparison of photographs of the buck-eye with the painting King had purchased and the matters were resolved in King's favour, as the buck-eye was obviously of inferior quality to the Chicago Version which King had in his possession.
In 1957 the Milwaukee County Historical Society contacted the firm of lawyers who had been acting for McConnell and asked if they could purchase the painting and were informed that it had been destroyed.
Panorama Chicago Tennessee Centennial Exposition Cotton States Exposition cyclorama Cyclorama