DALY, Marcus
Description:
Charcoal and pastel on card, 19” x 15”, signed and dated lower left ‘Souvenir A Muller-Ury 1901′
Location:
American National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C., U.S.A.
Provenance:
Acquired in a New York flea market by Michael Karp, 155 West 71st Street, Suite 6D, New York, NY 10023; sold by him to the American National Portrait Gallery in 2009 for $4000.
The sitter was born on December 5, 1841 and died on November 12, 1900. He was an Irish-born American businessman, known as one of the ‘Copper Kings’ of Butte, Montana.
The date has been thought to be 1907, but is certainly 1901. Probably drawn after 1899 in order to have a likeness from which to work up a picture when Daly was too busy to sit. He probably made it around the time Daly commissioned portraits of his two daughters, Margaret and Mary (see Mrs Carroll Brown and Mary Daly) from the artist. When Daly died in 1900, the artist probably gave it to a family member, maybe even as a peace-making gift with Mrs Daly who was cross over the failure of Mary’s portrait – and dated it 1901 with ‘Souvenir’.
