Biography

Thomas Shields Clarke

Thomas Shields Clarke was the son of Charles J. Clarke and Louisa (Semple) Clarke. Mr. Charles Clarke was a prominent citizen connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad.

According to Clarke’s grandson and namesake, Charles and Louisa spent the winter of 1890 -1891 at Elijah N. Dimick’s "Cocoanut Grove House," Palm Beach’s only hotel. The following winter, Clarke bought it, along with about 50 acres of land from the Lake Trail to the ocean beach. He also bought 10 acres more on the South Lake Trail, where the Society of the Four Arts stands today. This estate he named "Primavera," (Springtime). He then had constructed Palm Beach’s first non-wooden residence, the first to have a genuine tile roof instead of wooden shingles, with white stucco outer walls instead of the usual shingles or clapboard. When the house was completed and landscaped at No. 8 South Lake Trail, he and Louisa moved in. Clarke then sold or rented Cocoanut Grove House to Henry Morrison Flagler who used it to house the workers building his Royal Poinciana Hotel. In October 1893, it burned down.

Clarke’s yacht, "Alma," named for his granddaughter, was one of the first in Palm Beach. Some accounts say that he originally arrived in Palm Beach aboard the "Alma." He served as commodore of the Palm Beach Yacht Club and was ever after known as "Commodore Clarke." The clubhouse was on the lakefront of his property.

Commodore Clarke became a well-known figure in Palm Beach with his jaunty hat and umbrella. He and Louisa entertained distinguished Pittsburghers on vacation, including Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Carnegie and Mr. and Mrs. Henry Phipps. The Clarkes beautified the grounds of "Primavera" with a great variety of tropical plants including royal palms from Cuba, and Clarke placed ancient cannons from shipwrecks along his seawall.

Charles John Clarke died in Palm Beach in 1899. Clarke Avenue in Palm Beach is named for him.

Among Thomas Clarke's ancestors were artist Benjamin West, at one time President of the Royal Academy of England; Robert Fulton, an early American artist and inventor; and Robert Morris, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Shields Clarke was born on April 25, 1860, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He traveled abroad at an early age. He was a very astute, and observant young man.

Mr. Clarke took the Bachelor of Science degree at Princeton with the Class of 1882. In the spring of 1882, William Gilbert van Tassel Sutphen and Thomas Shields Clarke established a lighter vehicle for student writing at Princeton: The Tiger. After leaving Princeton, Sutphen became a member of the editorial staff for Harper and Brothers publishers. (Source: The Princeton University library chronicle, Volumes 29-30)

Mr. Clarke organized a patriotic society which worked in connection with a confidential department of the United States government. As was written in the Princeton Alumni Weekly, Vol XVIII, No. 12 (December 19, 1917):

"Early in the war Thomas Shields Clarke organized a patriotic society which has worked in connection with a confidential department of the Government Mr Clarke's daughter is returning to France to take charge of a branch of war orphan work at Versailles His son Charles J Clarke trained at Plattsburg volunteered and is now with Pershing as a Sergeant in the Ordnance Department Mr Clarke has twelve nephews and cousins in the army and navy."

Mr. Clarke attended Princeton University's Thirtieth Reunion in June of 1912. In the Tricentennial Record of the Class of 1882, he wrote the following;

"The happiest days of my life are those I spend in dear old Princeton, and especially when I meet my classmates there. There is inspiration and fond memory and love in the very atmosphere that surrounds our Alma Mater, I hope to be able, some day, to do something to make her proud of me. Since our last Reunion I have been jogging along pretty much as usual, painting a few pictures and modeling a few statues each year and within the past year or two have done some work as landscape architect, designing gardens, etc. Have a farm of about four hundred acres in Lenox, Mass., and live there with my family from May till November cultivating potatoes and fine-arts. Statues (of bronze or marble) are my most profitable crop. One of them paid for the farm. Recently we have been suffering with a dry season.

"Am president of The Lenox Garden Club and much interested in the preservation of the forests and of game and song birds. I hope our boys will come to see me on the farm."

Resolved to devote himself to art, he entered the Art Students' League of New York City where he spent one year of study before going abroad to study painting and sculpture, first in the Acade'mie Julian and the 'Ecole des Beaux in Paris, and later in Florence, Rome, and Venice. He remained in Europe for eleven years, working and exhibiting. His painting and sculptures have brought him honour at home and abroad. He exhibited works and won many medals at London, Madrid, Berlin, Paris, Chicago Exposition, and the Exposition of San Fransisco, and Atlanta.

He executed many large works in bronze and marble. His bronze group-fountain design, "The Cider Press", displayed at the Madrid Exposition, brought him a medal of honor presented to him personally by the King of Spain. It has made a permanent home at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, CA.

Four caryatides-"The Seasons"- on the New York Appellate Court building are dignified and graceful. Photos of these are available in the Sculptures section of this website.

A work of mystery in sculpture is his "Alma Mater and her son Alumnus," he was to create for Princeton University. All sources write as though it were completed and on the campus. However, that isn't the case as I shall reveal. There was supposed to have been a model of it in the Princeton Library. However, I was denied access to the library. So, I cannot confirm it. According to the staff at the Mudd Library, the piece was never executed on campus, Clarke’s model for the sculpture was shown publicly in 1900 at his New York City studio. The current whereabouts of the model, if it is still intact, are uncertain. The location of the University’s library was moved in 1942 and there is no reference to the model in any of the related records. I have a photo of it from a book in the Sculptures section. Also, Mr. Clarke was to have designed a stained glass window in Nassau Hall, commemorating the adjournment of the Continental Congress of September 24, 1783. Similarly, the stained-glass window seems to have been yet another project that was conceived of but never completed.

He contributed to the Dewey Arch in New York City, with the statue of Commodore MacDonough. The Dewey Arch was only a temporary structure and thus did not survive. Some photos are in the Sculptures section of this website.

In 1892, Mr. Clarke designed a monument honoring Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy. Members of the nation's homeopathic community began raising funds. The American Institute of Homeopathy AIH was assisted in its endeavor by the National Sculpture Society, which formed a committee to select an artist and design. The committee consisted of sculptors George Edwin Bissell, Daniel Chester French, and Olin Levi Warner, and architects Thomas Hastings, and Russell Sturgis. A design competition was held with 25 models submitted. They were displayed at the American Academy of the Fine Arts in New York City, the first time a public exhibition of competition models was held in the country. Unfortunately, Mr. Clarke's model was not chosen.

He not only competed in competitions but also judged in some as well. In 1902, for example, for the Memorial Association of the Tenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers (for the Philippine–American War), a monument was to be erected to Colonel A. L. Hawkins. The competing artists and their sketches were examined by Daniel C. French and Thomas Shields Clarke, and John W. Beatty, art director of the Carnegie Institute.

Some of his famous paintings include his "Night Market in Morocco," which received official recognition at the Berlin Exposition in 1891. That painting is owned by the Philadelphia Art Club. Its whereabouts is unknown. A black & white copy from a magazine is available to view in the Paintings section of this website.

"A Fools' Fool," another one of his most famous paintings, was shown at the Paris salon, and upon its merits, he was admitted to membership in the Society of American Artists, in New York City. It is part of the permanent collection at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. However, it is in storage. One needs to make arrangements ahead of time to view the painting. I found that out the hard way. Thus, I have yet to see it. Although, I was able to purchase a 4"x9" black & white copy of this 39 1/2"x 83" painting. * July/2008 UPDATE: The print of this is now available in colour and in a variety of sizes here.

The "A Gondola Girl" and "Morning, Noon, and Night" are among his other known Venetian paintings.

Mr. Clarke was a member of various organizations such as the National Sculpture Society in New York in 1893; the Architectural League in 1898; and the National Arts Club. And the following clubs: Princeton, Century, University, and Salmagundi.

Thomas Clarke married Adelaide Knox, of New York City, on October 3, 1887, in Geneva, Switzerland. They had three children, Alma, Charles John Clarke, and Beatrice Remington. They would travel abroad, and would also bring his family to Palm Beach to visit his parents. There are letters in the Correspondences section of this website that reflect these facts.

There is also a letter from Chester French, to Mr. Clarke, in the Correspondences section as well. However, when I visited Chesterwood, Mr. French's estate, and museum, there was no record of their ever knowing one another ... so I was told.

In 1886, Mr. Clarke lived in New York City. In 1896, he had a commodious brick mansion built on the northeast corner of Riverside Drive and 77th Street. And he had a summer cottage in Lenox, Massachusetts, (1902-1922). The cottage was named Fernbrook, after the brook that runs through the estate. During my research, I had contact with the grandson of Mr. Clarke's gardener of Fernbrook. He was kind enough to send me a copy of a recommendation letter Mr. Clarke wrote for his Grandfather. There are photos of the studios in NYC and Lenox in the His Studios section of this website.

Mr. Clarke had not only been the artist but the subject as well. Besides the portrait done by Frank Duveneck, featured on the welcome page, painter George M. Reevs (1864-1930) did a Portrait of Thomas Shields Clarke, in 1904, and is featured at the top of this page. It has been described the following way... "his body turned slightly to the right, his head turned to face the viewer. He wears a dark suit and tie with a white shirt." It is owned by the National Academy of Design, New York City. The portrait was one of the portraits saved from the fire in the National Academy of Design and was one of the membership portraits painted by Mr. Reevs. It is an admirable likeness and well handled. (Source: The Collector and Art Critic Vol. 3, No. 7, May 15, 1905). His son, Charles John Clarke, was an artist who also attended the Arts Student League, New York, and the Académie Julian, Paris. Reevs's portrait of TSC was shown privately in the subject's studio in 1906. Soon after TSC's death in 1920, the Academy loaned the portrait to Reevs so he could make a replica of it for Clarke's widow. (References: NAD minutes, January 15, 1906; December 21, 1920.)

Mr. Clarke died on November 15, 1920, in New York City. His remains are buried at the Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Clarke's family tree lives on to this day. Alma adopted three children. Beatrice had two children. And Charles had one, named after his father, Thomas Shields Clarke.

I will be adding more information as time allows.

~ C.A. Chicoine

Below is a wonderful article from Brush and Pencil, from August of 1900, covering Thomas Shields Clarke's career, up to that point.

Photographic autochrome image of Thomas Shields Clarke, at Fernbrook, ca. 1910. Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Archives.

Compiled and edited by C.A. Chicoine