George P. A. Healy: The Rolling Years

"The Peacemakers" by George Healy

"At the close of the war the idea came to me to paint a picture to be called 'The Peacemakers.' It represented Lincoln, Grant, Sherman and Porter, on board the 'River Queen,' discussing the possibilities of peace. I made all the studies for this picture in America, but I painted it some years later in Rome. It was unfortunately burned in 1892, when the Calumet Club of Chicago was destroyed by fire.

We moved back to Chicago from Elmhurst in 1863, and I bought an old-fashioned house on Wabash Avenue, which disappeared with all it contained in the Great Fire of 1871. Social life, in spite of public events, went on much as usual, and our circle of intimate friends was still that in which I had been so kindly welcomed on my arrival.

But constant hard work was beginning to tell upon my health, on my nervous system especially. It was evident that as long as I remained in Chicago I should inevitably do more than my strength would permit. To refuse a commission was more than I could ever do! Finally, it became a vital question: I must force myself to rest or the machine would give out before long.

It was then that we took the resolution of going abroad once more. We intended to stay a few years only. We did not return to Chicago until 1892. By then my strength had come back, thanks to moderation in work. The grandchildren with their French accent were growing up, and it seemed almost impossible again to fold up our tent. But the desire to live among my own people grew within me as the years went on, and I am pleased to find myself once more in the American city I love best, which adopted me as its own in 1855, and welcomed me home so heartily in 1892."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Reminiscences of a Portrait Painter" by G. P. A. Healy.)