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The Art Collection received a magnificent addition to its collection
of portraits of clerical subjects with the generous donation
by artist William Carl Groh III of his study for Avery Cardinal
Dulles, S.J. His preparatory chalk drawing for the oil portrait
of the cardinal on view in the new library of Fordham University
in Bronx, New York, where Cardinal Dulles is a professor of religion
and society, was given to the Art Collection this past summer.
Cardinal Dulles (b. 1918) was ordained a priest in 1956, and
from 1960 to 1974 served on the faculty of Woodstock College,
whose library now resides at Lauinger Library. He was elevated
to the College of Cardinals in 2001. His 1977 honorary degree
from Georgetown University is one of twenty-eight.
Carl Groh, of Lafayette, Louisiana, is a highly regarded portraitist
whose work is included in the National Portrait Gallery, which
referred Mr. Groh to Georgetown as a potential recipient of the
gift.
Art Collection curator LuLen Walker is considering possible
venues for its display on campus. The portrait's fragility as
a friable medium on paper precludes long-term display, however.
"It's a great place for me to have a piece because it's permanent,"
Groh was quoted on his gift to Georgetown University.
During a recent trip to New York City, a member of the Art Collection
staff was able to see Groh's painting, which hangs in the Neylon
Periodicals Reading Room at Fordham's Walsh Library. Georgetown's
pastel study faithfully anticipates the completed painting in
size, composition, and treatment of details, with exception of
the sumptuous gold-ochre color scheme the artist chose for the
painting, rather than the deep magenta of the drawing. We are
grateful to our sister Jesuit university library for its hospitality
and its insights on this accomplished work.
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