Thomas Le Clear
Thomas Le Clear (born in Owego, New York, 17 March 1818; died in Rutherford Park, New Jersey, 26 November 1882) was a painter from the United States. He painted Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's portrait in oils. NOTE: no photograph of HPB portrait is available.
Personal life
Artistic career
Theosophical Society connection
Mr. Le Clear was acquainted with Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott in New York City. After Blavatsky created her "Portrait of the Yogi Tiravalla" phenomenally, Olcott wrote, "Le Clear, the Noted American portrait painter, declared it unique, distinctly an 'individual' in the technical sense; one that no living artist within his knowledge could have produced."[1] An article published in The Bombay Gazette reiterated:
Thomas LeClear, an eminent American painter, and William R. O’Donovan, an equally distinguished sculptor, affirmed in a London journal, that no living artist could, in their opinion, equal it in vigour, breadth, and uniqueness, while they were both unable to decide upon the nature of the colouring substance employed in the manner of its application.[2]
Portrait of Madame Blavatsky
Additional resources
- "Thomas Le Clear (1818 – 1862)" at American Gallery website. Examples of his work.
Notes
- ↑ Henry Steel Olcott, Old Diary Leaves First Series (Adyar, Madras: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1974), 367-368.
- ↑ See "Theosophic Thaumaturgy--A Startling Story" at The Blavatsky Archives. Reprinted from The Bombay Gazette (March 31st, 1879), p.3.