(26" x 32.50" visible dimensions)
What surprise do we have for you this week? How about an exquisite oil painting by Oswald Hornby Joseph Birley (March 31, 1880 – May 6, 1952)! Birley was a famous English portrait painter in the early part of the 20th century.
He painted this portrait of the stunning Clara Fargo Thomas in 1923 while she was attending a costume ball. Her costume was such a hit that she was asked to sit for a portrait. Clara came from the Wells Fargo family (Yes, that Wells Fargo!) of Fargo, North Dakota. Although she lived her adult life as part of New York Society, she made her own mark for doing large, colorful and unusual murals. “I painted everything from cellar to ceiling”, she said, “and I learned by wanting to do it”. Clara Thomas is known for painting ceilings, panels, screens and large murals, all with the common theme of telling a story, usually with historical references.
She married New York real estate developer J.B. Thomas in a society-style wedding in 1915. In May of 1929, Mr. Thomas secured the Wanamaker Auditorium in New York to display an exhibition of her mural paintings, including 10 scale models of the murals and designs in important rooms in estate homes in such places as Tuxedo Park, New York, York Harbor, Maine, New Jersey and New York City. In addition, there were works done for commercial companies such as a huge map done for a steamship company, a set of maps designed for the office of Percy A. Rockefeller in the Cunard Building and offices in the Knickerbocker Building.
Clara’s first major work was a mural consisting of 14 panels that was commissioned by Mrs. Elizabeth Graham Lewis, more commonly know as the cosmetics icon Elizabeth Arden. This artwork A Pageant of Beauty, honoring 125 women known through history for their beauty, was first exhibited at Saks Fifth Avenue in 1935. The exhibit toured other places in the U.S. including Chicago, Kansas City, Washington, D.C. and overseas in London.
Subsequent commissions for her included Freedom of the Press for the Chicago Tribune Building in 1936, a large decoration for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company’s Exhibition and The World of Steel for the U.S. Steel Corporation’s Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair of 1939 and decorated the Royal Suite in Grosvener House, London. She also painted portraits, including one of Republican Nominee Wendell Wilkie and such notables as Elizabeth Arden, Elsa Maxwell, Eddy Duchin and Paul Draper.
Clara spent a great deal of time on Mt. Desert Island, Maine, painted murals in many of the homes and was active in getting a musical concert series started there.
A New York Times article wrote”…Mrs. Thomas is accomplishing something to-day that no other American woman has attempted in the way of mural and architectural decoration…”. It is for this that she is remembered. This oil on canvas painting from Birley is currently available for purchase at our gallery for $15,000. Please contact us if you’d like more information or would like to add this piece to your collection. As usual, watch this site for weekly updates regarding unique finds, musings, and tips on caring for your treasured items, including next week's companion piece!
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