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One of the most prominent portraits in the Art Collection
is restored to Gilded Age splendor and soon will be hanging in
Carroll Parlor. Elizabeth Drexel Dahlgren, by Adolfo
Felice Müller-Ury,
depicts the Georgetown University benefactress in life size,
full length, in a formal, fur-trimmed satin gown. The imposing
79 by 46-inch painting hung in the foyer outside Riggs Library
for many years. Unfortunately, the lower part of the canvas
and its original antique frame suffered damage, but are now
repaired
and restored. Elizabeth (“Bessie”) Drexel, of the prominent Philadelphia
family, married Georgetown alumnus John Vinton Dahlgren (B.A.
1889; M.A. 1891; L.L.B. 1891; L.L.M. 1892) of New York in 1889.
She donated the funds for Dahlgren Chapel, or the Chapel of the
Sacred Heart, at the University’s physical epicenter in
the quadrangle bounded by Healy Hall, “Old North”,
and the former Jesuit residences. The chapel was a memorial to
the Dahlgrens’ first son, who died in infancy. The Dahlgrens
commissioned Müller-Ury to paint her portrait in 1894, and
gave it to the University in 1898, shortly after its completion.
Müller-Ury (1862-1947), a Swiss immigrant, studied in Germany,
Rome, and Paris; after coming to the United States in 1887, he
pursued his considerable talents as a portraitist in a circle
of socially and politically prominent citizens. He was one of
many portrait artists catering to the increasingly wealthy population
created by the industrial and economic expansion during the decades
following the Civil War. Virtuoso portraitists such as John Singer
Sargent and Cecilia Beaux are among the most famous names in
the field.
Müller-Ury’s portrait of the Dahlgrens’ close
friend James Cardinal Gibbons, archbishop of the diocese in Baltimore,
probably brought him to their attention. Müller-Ury’s
painting of the cardinal is one of three by the artist in the
collection of The Catholic University of America; the National
Portrait Gallery, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the White
House also hold examples of his work. A biography of the artist
is being written by an art historian in Britain, who recently
contacted us for information on and photographs of the portrait.
Notice
of Elizabeth Drexel Dahlgren’s installation in
Carroll Parlor will be announced in a forthcoming issue of the
Library Associates Newsletter. The portrait can be viewed online
at www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/guac/muller-ury_1894.htm.
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