West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1879-09-20
Picture. OF the Presidents.

Hcaly's portraits of the Presidents ot the
United States, recently added to the Cor
Conn Art Gallery, arr mainly the studies
. from which, about thirty years ago. hc cN-
CCutCd "a commission from Louis Philippe,
then King OF the French Those of the
earlier Presidents arr copies from Stuart
and Harding, the others are from life.
+ They We're purchased ot the artist by
+ Thomas b. Bryan, Esq together with the
portraits of Taylor, Fillmore. Pierce, Bu-
Chanan and Lincoln. painted since the
/ French royal order and sold hy him ,o the
gallery. They are of various degrees of
merit onc or two are quito bad. greater
number md.lcuntN good and few real
/ N excellent rmm some unexplained
/ cause the portrait ut General Harrison is
+ mo-, embraced M the collection. The dircc-
/ tors are anxious to supply the ommission,
and two have already been forwarded them
I for inspection, with view To their sale
/ hut neither proved satisfactory. The bet
/ ter of these came from Louisville. aId is
/ the property of MIR. Oliver W. Lucas. CLERK
/ uf the Board uf Aldermen of that city. II is
/ 10y Mr. John K. Johnston. formerly of Gin
| Clunati, hut now of Baltimore. and WINS
| painted i'm 1910, about the time of the
| Gcncml's election 10 the Presidency. II is
/ "a tolCmhy correct likeness bat the colors
are much faded and it was considerably.
though not irrcpaUbly, injured i'm it's trans
| porJation hthcr For these reasons and i'm
/ the hope OF securing less objectionable
| picture, its purchase was declined Mr. j
| H. Beard painted several portraits of the
General, which must still bee i'm existence i'm
/ a good state of preservation. The portrait
! of Mr. Lincoln was painted i'm 1860, during
the pcndency of the Presidential election
/ or Immediately thereafter, under an order
\ from MIR. Bryan, then citizen of Chicago.
The face is unshavcn, which gives il "A
rather youthful look, without i'm the least
| improving his native homclincss MIR
| Lincoln was in the habit of explaining that
| he turned his beard loose at the suggcs-
! ton of lady, whose knowledge of his per
sonal appearance was confined to newspaper
| cuts, WHICH fairly made him AN Ogre She
wrote To nm that in her woman's Judgment,
whiskers would add much TO his beauty.
and if he could br persuaded to cultivate
| them She would kiss him the first time they
ever met. The gallant rail splitter at once
restricted his lonsOrial operations To the up
per and neither lips, leaving them free for
the osculatory reward, and IN few weeks
gmnlshcd his checks, chin and throat with
a hlrsutc adornmcnt which puzzled Mrs.
Lincoln and surprised his acQuaintanccs
without, as already intimntcd. enhancing
! his personal pulChritudc. As the necessary
conclusion 90 this tower true tale, So il
chanccd that he and the unknown lady met.
and the promised reward was claimed and
received He was never clean shaved
aitcrward. The next uglicst Of the Prcsi-
! dents counting Jefferson as "good-thrd'O }
| Is Zachary Taylor lis portrait somewhat
rciincs the plain features of the rough and
wcathcr-bcatcn old soldier, hut il very
/ correctly represents him "as he lived. !"
His eye, which was black, keen and pier
cling, greatly relieved his commonplace
countcnance, and it fairly glows from
llcalys canvas. Probably the most strll-
| ing picture in the lot is that Of General
jackson, who, too, in spite of his long life,
never grew 90 be- "marvclOus proper man, 50
although lns appearance was very distin-
gushcd. lie sat for Mr. lIcaly i'm the
spring of 1919, and the picture was finished
only nine days before his death. The pic
| turc Is IN marked contrast with the full
length portrait Of the General painted by
| Nandcrlyn in 1919, which hangs i'm the
main gallery. The latter represents him i'm
uniform, but bare headed, standing beside
a cannon, sword in hand, with the smoke
Of battle filling the background, and its
blaze flaming from his eyes and illuminat-
| ing his face with martial glory. Ilcaly's
is stripped of all this.glamour, and affords
| painful evidence Of age and nhrmily, of
| disease and suffering but the wonderful
head still bears its leoninc aspect while the
stecl-buc eyes undimmcd by time or ap-
! plication, retain their former marvellous
| power, and seem 10 look directly through
\ the holder. A duplicate Of this picture
may be seen at the Hermitage, the pose is
| slightly altered, and the effect rendered
more agreeable and impressive Yet il is
sad to look upon, and one at last turns from
/ il with a sigh Of relief