The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1919-05-02
DEATH OF DARIUS COBB
Venerable Painter-Widely known
in the Field of Art

Darius Cobb, painter of portraits
and landscapes, died on April q at
his home in Newton Upper Falls
Mass. He was "a years old. Hale
and hearty at the time of his last
birthday, August 6, the aged painter
began to fail in the fall, but he
| fought against his condition and
continued his art work and his lee
lures. Mr.. Cobb had been for half
a century or more one of the famous
characters in the art life Of Boston.
He was as full of enthusiasm up to
the last as boy of twenty. He m
sisted that painting and the desire
to paint kept him young.
He was q twin brother Of Cyrus
Cobb, also eminent both as painter
and sculptor. Cyrus died in 1908,
and since that time Darius, though
enthusiastic over his work, was not
so happy as he had been before. For
the two brothers. were inseparablc,
and they looked very much alike.
They were early in life impressed by
some paintings of Washington ALL
ston and they determined to become
painters and dedicated themselves to
art. They worked many years maxi
ing a copy of Leonardo de Vinci's
"Last Supper" They also painted
pictures of Christ, of Judas and Pr
late, and portraits of notable men.
Cyrus turned his attention to sculp-
ture and among his works is the
Soldiers Monument on Cambridge
Common. The brothers helped each
other on pretty much everything they
did, although most of the planning
was done by Cyrus. They worked
side by side in the same studio. Both
the brothers served as soldiers in the
Civil War, in the Forty-fourth Mass
achusetts Regiment.
Darius Cobb was born in Maiden,
on August 6, 1884, the son of the
Rev.. Sylvanus Cobb, well-known
Universalist clergyman and writer,
and Eunice Hale (Waite) Cobb. She
was the first president of the Ladies
Physiological Institute Of Boston.
The place where Mr.. Cobb was born
was previously the birthplace of Adj
oniram Judson, who became widely
known as a great missionary On
both the paternal and maternal sides,
the grandparents of Darius Cobb
we're descendants of Elder Cobb, who
came to America on the second voy-
age of the ship Mayfower The
father of Darius Cobb, leading the
ologian of his day, was a power in
the liberalizing of the Christian pull
pit. When their twin sons were
three years of age, the parents re-
moved to Waltham, and three years
later went to East Boston to make
their home.
From his youth it was Darius
Cobb's ambition to paint a Christ
that would be distinctive, and in the
accomplishment of this he became
noted. He determined that the eli
max of his career as painter should
be such a picture. When he finally
concluded the work he proclaimed it
to be the browning, achievement of
his life, and on completing it in 1914
at the age of 80 years, he called it
"The Master"
The paintings of Darius Cobb are
hung in the art galleries of France,
England and America. The nine
great paintings in the Empire ball
room of the Hotel Tuilleries are by
Cobb. One canvas executed by the
brush of Cobb about ten years ago,
which attracted the most widespread
attention, is the "Last Comrade.' 1t
was presented to the state for hang
ing in the State House.
For years Mr.. Cobb devoted him
self to portraits, varying his work
with landscapes. His portraits of
Henry Wilson, Charles Sumner, Ru-
fus Choate, General Butler, John
A. Andrew and other national cele-
brities have been numbered among
his paintings. The family and towns
men of Henry Wilson, wishing a por-
trait of the statesman for the Natick
town hall invited Mr.. Cobb to paint
it. His portrait of Rufus Choate was
bought for the Supreme Court by the
lawyers of Boston, and two copies of.
it were ordered by General Benjamin
F. Butler, one for himself and the
other for the New York bar, it be-
ing pronounced by General Butler,
William M. Evarts and other eminent
members of the bar an extraordinary
portrait. John F. Andrews secured
Mr.. Cobb's portrait of his father to
present it to the state-Boston
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