Artist. Primarily an American portrait painter, he is best remembered for his portraits of US presidents from John Quincy Adams to Ulysses S. Grant painted for the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and other prominent figures of the 1800s. The oldest child of an Irish merchant marine captain, his father died when he was young. At age 16 he started drawing to support his family and two years later he was painting portraits. In 1834 he travelled to Europe and studied under the tutelage of French artist Antoine-Jean Gros in Paris, France and Rome, Italy. Following Groh's death in 1835, he remained in Europe and won a 3rd-class medal at the Paris Salon of 1840 and three years later was elected as a Honorary Academician to the National Academy of Design. In 1855 he won a 2nd-class medal at the Paris Salon for his "Franklin urging the claims of the American Colonies before Louis XVI." The same year, he travelled to Chicago, Illinois where he stayed until 1869 when he returned to Europe and remained there for 21 years. His 1877 portrait of US President Abraham Lincoln (without beard) was used as the model for the 1-cent Lincoln postage stamp that was issued on February 12, 1959, the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. Among his other notable works include "The Peacemakers" (1868, depicting a riverboat meeting with Lincoln and three of his top Union flag officers), portraits of William Tecumseh Sherman (1866), Pope Pius IX (1871), and Carol I of Romania (1873). He died at the age of 80. His autobiography, "Reminiscences of a Portrait Painter" was published in 1894.
Artist. Primarily an American portrait painter, he is best remembered for his portraits of US presidents from John Quincy Adams to Ulysses S. Grant painted for the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and other prominent figures of the 1800s. The oldest child of an Irish merchant marine captain, his father died when he was young. At age 16 he started drawing to support his family and two years later he was painting portraits. In 1834 he travelled to Europe and studied under the tutelage of French artist Antoine-Jean Gros in Paris, France and Rome, Italy. Following Groh's death in 1835, he remained in Europe and won a 3rd-class medal at the Paris Salon of 1840 and three years later was elected as a Honorary Academician to the National Academy of Design. In 1855 he won a 2nd-class medal at the Paris Salon for his "Franklin urging the claims of the American Colonies before Louis XVI." The same year, he travelled to Chicago, Illinois where he stayed until 1869 when he returned to Europe and remained there for 21 years. His 1877 portrait of US President Abraham Lincoln (without beard) was used as the model for the 1-cent Lincoln postage stamp that was issued on February 12, 1959, the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. Among his other notable works include "The Peacemakers" (1868, depicting a riverboat meeting with Lincoln and three of his top Union flag officers), portraits of William Tecumseh Sherman (1866), Pope Pius IX (1871), and Carol I of Romania (1873). He died at the age of 80. His autobiography, "Reminiscences of a Portrait Painter" was published in 1894.
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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