Daniel Webster at Marshfield
The life of George Peter Alexander Healy is one of tremendous drive and stratospheric success. Born in Boston to an Irish ship captain, Healy knew early in life that he wanted to be an artist. However, his life was turned upside down when his father died during Healy’s childhood, and he was suddenly faced with the responsibility of supporting his mother and four siblings. Not having the luxury of attending art school, he began to teach himself how to paint and draw. Healy assiduously mastered the fundamentals, and in 1830 opened a studio. Business was slow, so his landlord requested family portraits in exchange for rent. His luck turned when a local patron gave Healy money to study in Paris, where he sought one of the best instructors, the French neo-classical history painter Baron Antoine-Jean Gros (1771 – 1835). Fortune again graced him when around 1840 he caught the eye of King of France Louis Philippe, who became Healy’s chief patron. Soon he was painting every European and American dignitary imaginable, as well as the entire scope of the United States Presidents.
In 1855, by invitation of William B. Ogden, he came to Chicago and established a lucrative studio practice, painting portraits of eminent Chicagoans. He traveled often to Washington DC to paint military heroes during the Civil War. Commissions were so frequent and plentiful that Healy returned to Europe in 1867 for rest. Highly successful, he had studios in Rome and Paris. In 1892, he came back to Chicago and died two years later.
This painting is one of the oldest works in the Union League Club Collection, dated 1854. Daniel Webster (1782-1852) was the epitome of a distinguished American politician and citizen. His accomplishments are many: two-time United States Secretary of State; Senator from Massachusetts; and gifted orator who fought fervently for the cause of the Union. Healy composed this portrait during a visit to Webster’s country estate in Marshfield, Massachusetts. He went there to prepare for a royal commission that illustrated the famous 1830 Senatorial Debate of Webster replying to Senator Robert Hayne of South Carolina. Initially sparked by protectionist tariffs, eventually the debate symbolized the power struggle between the Federal Government and the States, in essence the meaning of the Union of the United States. The painting, a large work, is known as "Webster's Second Reply to Hayne." A masterpiece by all accounts, it hangs in Boston’s Faneuil Hall. Webster’s response to Hayne was regarded by many as one of the finest debates ever delivered in Congress. In fact, it bore the roots of Lincoln’s famous phrase in the Gettysburg Address "…government of the people, by the people, for the people."
The Union League Club painting shows Healy in a mode completely different from that as a statesman. Wearing a long loose-fitting waistcoat and broad-brimmed brown hat, cocked upwards and slanting to reveal his infamous penetrating gaze, he is depicted as a private citizen at leisure. His second wife, Caroline LeRoy of New York, is visible in the background, wearing a long white gown and short bonnet, waiting at the door for her husband to return from his hunt. Judging by the rabbit and splayed bird present on the bench, Webster was a success with his rifle, which he now causally leans on the ground, turned upside down. The architecture of the estate is unfinished, and close examination reveals ruled pencil lines. Much of the façade is obfuscated by the broad sweeping tree on the right. Webster purchased Marshfield, a small farm in Massachusetts, and developed it into a 1400-acre estate with an elegant manor home reminiscent of Mount Vernon. Marshfield provided Webster a respite from the hectic political life in Washington, as well as garnered him prestige and social standing. A monument to Webster in Central Park, New York City, bears the following inscription: "Liberty and Union, Now and Forever, One and Inseparable." He thus heartily embodies the mission of the Union League Club of Chicago.
The painting was purchased by Thomas B. Bryan, Healy’s neighbor in Elmhurst, Illinois. Bryan was a distinguished Chicago lawyer among many accomplishments, such as the representative who argued before Congress on behalf of Chicago to host the Columbian Exposition of 1893. His portrait is in the collection of the Union League Club and was painted by his daughter, Jennie Bryan. The honorable Thomas Bryan served the Union League Club as President in 1897.
