The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-10-07
Pictures of tho ProSiticnts,

llcaly's portraits of the Presidents of the
United States, recently added to the Cor
coran Art Gallery, are mainly tic studies
from which, about thirty years ato, he cx-
ecutcd Il commission from Louis Philippe,
then King of the French. Those of the
earlier Presidents are copies from Stuart
and Harding, the others are from life.
They were purchased OF the artist by
Thomas b. Bryan, Esq together with the
portraits of Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Hu-
clanan and Lincoln, painted since the
French royal order, and sold by him to the
gallery. They are of various degrees of
merit; one or two arc quite bad, greater
number mdilcrcntly good, and a few real
~ excellent. from some Unexplained
cause the portrait OF General Harrison is
not embraced in tho collection. The dircc-
tors are anxious to supply the commission,
and two have already been forwarded them
Tor inspection, with Il view to their sale.
but neither proved satisfactory. The bet
Ter of these came from Louisville, ard is
the property of Mr.. Oliver w. Lucas, Clerk
OF the Board of Aldermen of that city. 1t is
ny MIR. John Il. Johnston, formdrly of Gin
cnnati, but now of Baltimore, and was
painted in 1910, about the time of the
Generals election to the Presidency. 1t is
tolerably correct likeness, but the colors
are much faded, and it was considerably,
though not irrcparably, injured in its trans
portation hithcr. For these reasons and in
tho hope of securing less Objectionable
picture, its purchase was declined. Mr.. j.
Ii. Beard painted several portraits of the
General, which must still be in existence in
a good state Of preservation. The portrait
OF MIR. Lincoln was painted in 1860, during
Of ts,1
or Immediately thereafter, under al order
from MIR. Bryan, then citizen of Chicago.
The face is unshavcn, which gives it a
rather youthful look, without in the least
improving his native homelncss Mr..
Lincoln was in the habit of explaining that
he "turncd his beard loose" at the suggcs-
ton of Il lady, whose knowledge of his per
sonal appearance was confined to newspaper
cuts, which fairly made him an ogre. She
wrote to him that in her woman's Judgment,
whslsers would add much to his beauty,
and If he could be persuaded 10 cultivate
them she would kiss him tho first time they
ever met. The gallant rail-spltter at once
restricted his tonsorial operations to the up-
per and neither lips, leaving them free for
the oscuatory reward, and in few weeks
garnishcd his checks, chin and throat with
a hirsute adornmcnt which tpuZzlcd Mrs
Lincoln and surprised his NScquaintanccs
without, as already intimata enhancing
his personal pulchritudc. AS the necessary
conclusion to this 'sowcr true tale" il
Glanced that he and the unknown lady met,
and the promised reward was. Claimed and
received. He was never t!clcan-shavcd
afterward. The next ugliest of the Prcsi-
dents Counting Jefferson as "good-third'O
is Zachary Taylor. His portrait somewhat
rcfines the plain features of tue rough and
weathcr-bcalcn old soltlinr- bnt i very
correctly represents him ''as hc lived"
Ills eye. which was black, keen and pier
cling, greatly relieved his commonplace
countcnancc, and it fairly glows IRON
Hcaly's canvas. Probably the most strik-
ing picture in the lot is that of General
Jackson, who, too, in spite of his long life,
never grew to be Il ''marvelous proper man."
although his appearance was very distin-
guishcd. He sat for Mr. lIealy in the
spring of $40, and the picture was flushed
only nine days before his death. The pic
turc is in marked contrast with the full
length portrait of the General painted by
Fandcrlyn in 1919, which hangs in the
main gallery. The latter represents him in
uniform, but barc-headed, standing beside
a cannon, sword in hand, with the smoke
of battle filing the background, and its
blaze flaming from his eyes and illuminat-
ing his face with martial glory. Hcaly's
is stripped of all this glamour, and affords
painful evidence of aye and mfirmity, of
disease and suffering; but the wonderful
head still bears its lconinc aspect, while the
stecl-bluc eyes, mdmmcd by time OF ap-
plication, retain their former marvellous
power, and seem to look directly through
the holder. a duplicate of this picture
may be seen at tho Hermitage, the pose is
slightly altered, and the effect rendered
more agreeable and impressive. Yet it is
sad to look upon, and one at last turns from
it with sigh of relief.