Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-04-04
A PORTRAIT GALLERY.
Photographs of Distinguished Men
and Women of ALI Times.
BRILLIANT SOCIAL LEADERS.
Ladies' Who Have Reigned in the Salon and
Those Who Have Graced the stage-Men
Eminent In Every Profession, Warriors and
Civilians, All Have Sat to Mr.. Brady.

Written for The Evening Star
NHE PORTRAITS OF THE LADIES WHICH
- grace Mr.. Brady's gallery were taken. the
most Of them, at a time when Washington So
ciety could boast Of some OF the brightest and
most brilliant women, whose beauty and intel
lectual power rendered that period famous. 1t
was the time when photography was in the as
cendent, for it had just been successfully ap-
piled to those '-imperials," which had at that
time become the rage. superseding
the carte de visite, the Hrst form in which it
was adapted to portraiture. Those to which
Mr.. Brady has called my attention, were Of large
size. generally taken full length, with orna-
mental and elaborate background and furni-
ture and finished in the highest style Of water
color and pastel. During Mr. Buchanan's ad-
ministrstion this mode Of portraiture seems to
have been most popular. Miss Lane. then the
presiding mistress of the Executive Mansion,
IL several times repeated in this collection and
all Of them are most admirable. The one where
the White House is introduced as the back
ground was the most popular and was the rec
ognized picture. which was copied so extern
siyely in magazines
LADIES OF BUCHANAN CABINET.
The ladies Of the Buchanan cabinet are all
here and are in every case full length. Mrs
A. Y. Brown, whose husband was Mr.. Buch-
anan's Postmaster General and who died
while in Office: Mrs. Jacob Thompson. Mrs
Cobb Mrs. Black Miss Belle Cass. who subse-
quently became Madame Limborg; Mrs Fitz-
patrick Of Alabama and Mrs @. c. Clay
Of Alabama. now Mrs. Judge Clopton,
one Of the most attractive from her power OF
repartee and conversational brllllancy; Mrs.
George II. Pugh Of Ohio and her sister. Mrs.
Marshall of California. two Of the hsndsomest
OF that distinguished throng which boasted
such beautiful women as Mrs Douglas, now
Mrs. Gen Williams; Mrs Kate Chase Sprague.
Mrs. Bass, subsequently Madame Bertinatti;
Mrs. W. D. Bishop Of Connecticut Mrs. John
X Thompson Of New Jersey and Mrs. John J.
Crittenden. great favorite, all are here They
are full length and are finished in the highest
stvle Of art. and which has not since been ex-
celled il equalled- The ladies of the foreign
legations are represented by an admirable pic
ture of Lady Napier, Lady Elmer and earlier
by Lady Gore Ousely and her very handsome
sister. Mrs Judge Roosevelt Of New York Mr..
Brady saws at that time such was the throng
which crowded his gallery that engagements
were made days in advance. In almost every in
stance these ladies are taken grande toilette.
and the change of fashion renders them today
rather out OF style. The yoluminous skirts,
which occupy so large 9 part of the picture,
exhibits the extreme of the days Of hoped
skirts setting in those days for a lady was
a somewhat serious matter, as much had to
be added to the costume after the ladies had
the leaders Of New York high life are fully
represented. II would tax your space to give a
list of them Mrs Van Buren, and Miss Van
Buren,, Mrs Hamilton Fish, Mrs. August Bel
mont. Mrs DR.. Carnachon, Mrs. President
Tyler, Mrs Gen. Fremont Mrs. W. Il. Astor,
Madame de Trobiant, Mrs. Jas. Brown, Lady
Bury. the daughter of Sir Allen McNab and wife
of the governor general OF Canada; Mrs X. L.
Stewart, Mrs W. H. Vanderbilt and Mrs John
Bigelow. All distinguished strangers found
hair 20 Nv Rradyfs ual1arv il fha
ateJerome Bonsparte( Plon PIon) and the Prin-
cess Clotilde. the Empress Carlotta. and Maxi
millian. obtained by Mr.. Brady from MexiCo
while they were occupying that ll-starred ele-
vation-
LADIES OF PROFESSIONAL LIFE
The ladies of professional life are numerous,
but all Of recognized standing in their profess
sion-Charlotte Cushman in two OF three posi-
tons and a weird faded but remarkable picture
Neg Meyrllts- l asked Mr. Brady how he
had obtained the picture and he said she had
come TO the gallery on Sunday and dressed there
of course. and made up that wonderful char
acter. By some accident II got wet and Is nearly
faded out. but the remarkable expression and
position when she is uttering her curse as Meg
Is wonderful
Here is Patti at seventeen years of age and
that talented girl. Belle Hinckley. in character
and in private life. She married Susini. the
great basso, and died very young and SO full of
talent Ristori is in several pastures in char
acter and in private, and in a group with her
husband and boys. Piccolomini. Laborde
Sontag,. Lagrange. Vestvalli, Fritzillini Bosio
the beauty of the operate stage. MOrinzi. an
American Miss Duckworth in several characters
Nr. Brady saws when he saw Sontag on the
stage she struck him as a very tall woman and
when he called to invite her to give him a
sitting he found a small. understood woman
dumpy and stout He expressed his surprise
when she laughed and said that appearance
on the stage Is due to my dressmaker. who BY
q combination Of stripes and their arrange
ment. gives me the height you speak of" and
IN her picture II Is seen TO be true. Here Mr. Brady
pointed out the old-time favorite and beauti-
ful actress, Julia Dean, and Mrs. Fsrren and
Mrs Hoey, Avonia Jones, q Washington girl
who made her hrs. appearance here, and q
beautiful actress she was. She married Gus
tayus Brooke, the English tragedian. and died
in Australia Mrs Edwin Forrest, Eliza Logan,
Rose Etynge. Madaline Henriques and host Of
others
FANNY ELsLER AND OTHERS.
Mr.. Brady eIhumes picture Of Fanny Els
Ter, who came to the gallery with Henry Wy
kod and gave Mr. Brady several sittings. Por-
traits Of actors whose memory is cherished by
lovers Of the art are numerous-Edwin Forrest
- early as 1874, several Of them in charac ter
VIM E. Burton. John Mccullough, Edwin
Booth, the elder Booth. John Wilkes Booth,
Charles Kean and his wife, Ellen Tree, Charles
Matthews, Joseph jefferson. Jas. II. Hackett,
John Brougham in character and in private
life, Lester Wallach and the elder Wallach
"the veteran" James II. Wallach, Macready
Barry sullivan. Carl. Formes Brignoli Ror conf,
John Gilbert, Talberg Gottschalk, VIM. Vincent
Wallace. whose beautiful opera, Mariana ~
vas 30 successful and held the stage for years
These are only some Of the many who have left
with Mr.. Brady their resemblance, which
have 90 long outlived themselves.
PRESIDENT TAYLOR AND CABINET
Before me u an admirable picture of Presi-
dent Taylor, which Mr.. Brady SAYS was OBJ
tanned at some trouble; but when the old gen.
eral consented to sit for him he was one of the
most patient sitters he ever had. This was taken
in ls4s. Subsequently it was copied in photo
graph and Is one Of the finest pictures in the gal
lery. The National Inteligencer of Monday.
May Z, lS49. saws: "On Saturday mornin last
Mr.. Brady was honored by 9 visit from Presi-
dent Taylor. Of whom no less than three pic
lures were taken and each one was a triumph of
art And when IL is remembered
that the President never in better health
than at the present time the value Of these
portraits Is greatly enhanced" Mr.. Fill
more and the cabinet of TAYLOR and
FILLMORE were also taken, which the
inteatgascer said is to be engraved. The
long list Of those eminent in every sphere of
life II given BY name would read like a city
directory, and vet there are 50 many men Of
prominence whose names occupy places in
history IL Is difficult to select the most distin-
gulsned- i have not vet touched on those