Telegram-herald., 1891-03-30
>. n. BEARD.


>. n. BEARD.
] saw the picture Ia the New York city
studio of James H. Beard, the veteran artist
who had made a name before most of us
were born. lie knew Sherman well, had
known him since anti-bellum days. Those
who were acquainted with the great Cen
erals peculiari,ies will realize that the
artist must have had a strong claim or he
would not have been granted a sitting.
The manner of granting il, too, was quite
characteristic.
1t was in the fall OF 1887 that Beard
wrote note 10 Sherman asking the favor
of sitting The General replied with .
courteous, but unmistakable refusal.
Beard was disappointed, although he had
not been very sanguine of obtaining the
desired favor. A few days later, as he sat
In his studio, the door was pushed open
and in walked Sherman.
Beard" said he, II haven't used You
fairly. You shall have a sitting a. soon
as you want it, and as many more as you
need"
When the sitting began Beard was able
TO realize more fully the sacrifice which
the General had made TO friendship. He
was too restless 10 maintain the pose more
than a minute or two, and then he would
shift, first one way and then the other,
and beg to be allowed the consolation OF
cigar. When his nervousness would be-
come unbcarable, he would walk over and
note the artists progress. In his most
restless moments during sitting when
he had shifted his pose till it bore no re-
lation to the one in which he had been
placed, he could always be brought back
by a word. At the sound Of il he would as
sumo the correct position with military
precision.
The portrait shows him in his uniform,
but there are no other military insignia
Sherman asked that they should be
omitted. He did not wish the sword or
the golden plumes to figure on the can
vas And so the picture stands as IL TO
show that Sherman conquered men by his
intellect and not by blows with a sword.
noticed near Sherman's portrait
head of William Henry Harrison, and
was surprised to hear that Beard had
painted the hero of Tippecanoe from life.
But that wasn't so long ago. after all, in
the memory of an octogenarian, and the
painter will be one in "A few months. He
had sittings from John Quincy Adams,
who seems much further back in history,
and from Zachary Taylor. His portrait
of Taylor brought higher price than any
American artist had received for single
work up to that time.
He told me good story OF General
Taylor, which dates back TO tho time OF
his presidential campaign. The General
was at Baton Rouge. ana the artist had
called upon him. They talked on general
topics for awhile, and finally got round
10 politics. Taylor asked his guest which
way he was going 20 vote Beard, whose
sympathies were not strongly with Taylor.
got out of IL rs well as he could but not
well enough to disguise his hesitancy.
Then the General came out In a surpris-
ing fashion for political candidate.
Don't you vote for me" he cried, "or
for any other military man. There Is
nothing in army life which makes states
men OF us. nothing at all'''
II sounds strange To a youngstcr. 20
hear man tell this Of these characters
who seemed far away even In my school
days
Beard has been painting for sixty-fve
years He obtained his first art inspira-
ton by watching man designing a
figure head for some small craft that was
20 ply the waters Of Lake Erie. Genius
is quick 10 take a hint Young Beard,
with the most primitive materials wen,
TO work. and though wholly unfaught.
turned out some pictare that were worth
looking AZ He has made a special study
of animals.
Among the notable faces observed in
his studio was that Of the late disfin-
guishei Mr Crowley, the chimpsnnee that
died recently in Central Park The portrai-
tnre il excellent The great ape sits In 9
reflective posture, looking upward One
hand supports his chin. and the other holds
copy Of Dar~in's Descent Of Man The
Metempsychosis Of Pythagorss il on the
table with a monkeys skull, Will. on the
floor is the skull ~ man.
Among Beard best known works arr
cont All Night, a group 81 dogs. "Strests
of New York = now owned br g. r Hunt
ingdon, The Last Man q strangely i'm
pressivs conception Of the dssug.. and
NORTH Carolina Fui grants sr earl,
work. ~. first -hich won him recogni
| ton in the Esst
RI. has ben urged 20 put bis sdnirshi.
x.o-4~sff II Sherman q. ssh{faffr- srs
nav do il soon Dawn WrrHsIsR
The wasbsen.w County snnday