Painting
- Title:
- Col. Arthur Eastman Clarke
- Object Name:
- Painting
- Object ID:
- 1956.052
- Creator:
- French, Frank (1850-1933)
Artist - Place of Origin:
- Manchester, NH
- Date:
- 1912
- Description:
- Portrait of Col. Arthur Eastman Clarke (1854-1921), by Frank French (1850-1933), 1912. Oil on canvas. Three-quarter length portrait of a man, facing slightly right. The subject has gray hair and mustache. Wearing a black coat , gray striped trousers, white vest, white shirt with turnover collar, gray cravat with blue stone pin, gold cuff links, ring on right hand, and watch chain and fob hanging from vest button. Seated at ease on Mission Style wooden settee holding newspaper in left hand, nose glasses in right, and knees crossed. A large-patterned red, black, and brown portiere in background. Signed in lower right corner: "FRANK FRENCH / 1912". Low-relief carved wood frame with exposed red ground and areas of gilding.
- Material:
- Textile
Canvas - Dimensions:
- H-50 W-40 inches
- Provenance:
- Found in the storage room of the Elks Lodge in Manchester, NH, and was brought to the New Hampshire Historical Society.
From 1875 to 1891, Arthur Eastman Clarke (1854-1921) worked at his family's newspaper business as editor and writer of the Manchester Mirror. From 1891-1918, he managed the Mirror. He excelled as an athlete, sportsman, and public speaker. Col. Clarke also served in the military, state and national government. His wife was Martha Bouton Cilley Clarke, whose portrait, also painted by Frank French, has not been located.
Clarke was a member of the Elks Lodge or the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (B.P.O.E) in Manchester, NH. His obituary appearing in the Manchester Daily Mirror on Oct. 1, 1921, describes his role as, "exalted ruler of the Manchester lodge of Elks." In his portrait (1956.052) he is seen wearing a B.P.O.E. watch fob of a gold elk above an elk's tooth. He is holding a Manchester Daily Mirror newspaper. - Credit Line:
- Gift of the Manchester Lodge, B.P.O.E. No 146
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