1963

Manhattan: City Hall Park

The facade of City Hall with the buildings of lower Broadway behind it; people stroll beneath the trees of the park at left. A Set of Seven Canvases of Old New Yor These paintings come from a country house called 'Glencairn' near Dublin in Ireland, where they adorned the walls of the billiard room. The house was built by Richard 'Boss' Croker (1841-1922), an Irishman who for many years was associated with Tammany Hall in New York, holding political positions under William M. 'Boss' Tweed, and later, after the latter's ousting, under 'Honest John' Kelly. Following the Lexow Committee investigations (1889-90), he left for England where he took up residence in Wantage, Berks, returning to America periodically, attempting to regain his lost position in the Democratic Party. After his final defeat in 1900, he crossed the Atlantic once again, built 'Glencairn' and started a racing stable. Despite his past reputation (he paid, in all, $550,000 for his Irish estates), he lived up to the high standards demanded by British racing circles, and when his horse Orby won the Derby in 1907, did not even back him. These pictures were painted to remind him of New York, and it is assumed that they were executed there around the turn of the century. All are painted in tones of sepia and green. The British Government has recently acquired this mansion for the use of the British Ambassador to Ireland. PARKE-BERNET Sale 2234, Nov. 29-30, 1963

Photo from the New York Public Library - Milstein Collection