“The Illustrious Guest,” 1847, by Nineteenth Century artist, James Henry Beard, depicts legendary Kentucky statesman Henry Clay (1777‱852) as a guest at a country tavern while on the campaign trail. When Alan Fausel of Bonhams saw the painting during a filming of the PBS program Antiques Roadshow , he said it “could hang in a museum.” Now it is †the work is on long-term loan to the Amon Carter Museum.
Rebecca Lawton, curator of paintings and sculpture at the Amon Carter Museum contacted Fausel when she saw the painting and was able to contact the anonymous Dallas-owner about allowing it to be on display at the Amon Carter.
The owner revealed that the painting had been in her family for more than six generations, and that they likely acquired it shortly after it was painted.
“It is a terrific genre subject that combines fact with fiction,” Lawton says. “The setting is accurate, as Clay, a veteran campaigner, certainly would have stopped at country taverns to solicit votes during the 1844 presidential election.
“Beard likely imagined the painting’s cast of characters, some of whom marvel at Clay’s elegant attire, while others eye him warily after identifying him from the guest register. This is a perfect picture of life in antebellum America and a wonderful rediscovery.”
James Henry Beard (1811‱893) was born in Buffalo, N.Y., and at the age of 11 moved with his family to Painesville, Ohio. A self-taught artist, Beard worked for several years as a traveling portrait painter in Cincinnati, Louisville, New Orleans and Pittsburgh. He was an honorary member of the National Academy of Design from 1848 to 1860 and a full member until his death in 1872.
The Amon Carter Museum is at 3501 Camp Bowie Boulevard. For more information, www.cartermuseum.org or 817-989-5067.
