Thomas Shields Clarke (April 25, 1860November 15, 1920) was an American painter and sculptor. He is best known for his bronze sculpture '' The Cider Press'', in San Francisco.

Education

Named for his grandfather, he was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, the eldest of the six children of Charles John Clarke, a

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

executive, and Louisa Semple. He was a cartoonist for a student newspaper at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, from which he graduated in 1882. He studied for a year at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

, then worked as an illustrator in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He moved to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

to study at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

—painting under

William-Adolphe Bouguereau William-Adolphe Bouguereau (; 30 November 1825 – 19 August 1905) was a French academic painter. In his realistic genre paintings, he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female ...

and

Jules Joseph Lefebvre Jules Joseph Lefebvre (; 14 March 183624 February 1911) was a French figure painter, educator and theorist. Early life Lefebvre was born in Tournan-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne, on 14 March 1836. He entered the École nationale supérieure des Bea ...

; and sculpture under

Henri Chapu Henri-Michel-Antoine Chapu (29 September 1833 – 21 April 1891) was a French sculptor in a modified Neoclassical tradition who was known for his use of allegory in his work. Life and career Born in Le Mée-sur-Seine into modest circumstances, ...

. He was admitted to the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

, where he studied in the

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or v ...

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The ran ...

. Clarke left the École after less than 3 years, and became the special pupil of Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret.W. A. Cooper, "Artists in Their Studios: Thomas S. Clarke," ''Godey's Magazine'', vol. 130, no. 779 (May 1895), pp. 469-7

/ref>

Early works

Clarke exhibited his first painting at the Paris Salon of 1885, and had his first success with the wryly humorous ''A Fool's Fool'', exhibited at the Salon of 1887. ''The Night Market in Morocco'', an exotic scene by firelight, earned him a diploma of honor at the 1891 International Art Exhibition of Berlin, and was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1892. Clarke exhibited paintings at the

1893 World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

in Chicago, Illinois—''A Fool's Fool'', ''The Night Market in Morocco'', ''Portrait of Madame d' E'', ''A Gondola Girl'', and the full-size cartoon for a 3-part lunette stained glass window: ''Morning, Noon and Night''. He was awarded a medal for his paintings.

The Cider Press

Clarke debuted a plaster sculpture group, ''The Cider Press'', at the Paris Salon of 1892."The Cider Press," ''The Illustrated American'', vol. 12, no. 132 (August 27, 1892), pp. 66, 8

/ref> It depicts a muscular father pressing apples while his young son samples the juice. Clarke designed it to be a public drinking fountain, with water to flow out of the press and into a bucket at its base. ''The Cider Press'' was exhibited at the 1892

Historical American Exposition The 1892 Historical American Exposition held in Madrid was intended to mark the four hundredth year of the discovery of America. Participants Several countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, E ...

in Madrid, at which

King Alfonso King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

presented Clarke with a medal (the only one awarded to a foreign sculptor). A larger-than-life-size bronze version was cast in Paris by Jaboeuf & Bezout Fondeurs,The Apple Cider Press
from SIRIS. and exhibited at the 1893 World's Fair. The following year, it was exhibited at the

California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894 The California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894, commonly referred to as the "Midwinter Exposition" or the "Midwinter Fair", was a World's Fair that officially operated from January 27 to July 5 in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. In ...

, in San Francisco. The Exposition's Executive Committee purchased the sculpture and presented it to the city. It was installed as a drinking fountain in

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the development ...

in 1894. Vandalism caused it to be relocated to the grounds of the

De Young Museum The de Young Museum, formally the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco, California. Located in Golden Gate Park, it is a component of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, along with the Legion of Honor ...

Later works

Clarke modeled a set of four

caryatid A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...

es – ''Spring'', ''Summer'', ''Autumn'', ''Winter'' – for the

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stre ...

façade of the

Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State The Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State, First Department (also known as Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York) is a historic court house located at 35 East 25th Street at the corner of Madison Avenue, acro ...

, in Manhattan. He modeled a figure in staff of Captain

Thomas Macdonough Thomas Macdonough, Jr. (December 31, 1783 – November 10, 1825) was an early-19th-century Irish-American naval officer noted for his roles in the first Barbary War and the War of 1812. He was the son of a revolutionary officer, Thomas Macdonou ...

for the

Dewey Arch __NOTOC__ The Dewey Arch was a triumphal arch that stood from 1899 to 1900 at Madison Square in Manhattan, New York. It was erected for a parade in honor of Admiral George Dewey celebrating his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay in the Philipp ...

, a temporary structure erected in

Madison Square Madison Square is a public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for Founding Father James Madison, fourth President of the United States. ...

, Manhattan, to celebrate Admiral

George Dewey George Dewey (December 26, 1837January 16, 1917) was Admiral of the Navy, the only person in United States history to have attained that rank. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War, with ...

's 1898 victory in the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

. Clarke modeled an ornate bell for the

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

USS ''Princeton'' (active 1898–1919). He modeled ''To Alma Mater'' (1900), a larger-than-life-size plaster sculpture group for his own alma mater, Princeton University,Obituary: "Thomas Shields Clarke '82," ''The Princeton Alumni Weekly'', December 15, 1920, p. 25

/ref> but it seems never to have been executed in bronze or marble.

Honors

Clarke was elected an associate of the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

in 1902. George M. Reevs painted his "diploma" portrait.David B. Dearinger, ed., ''Paintings and Sculpture at the National Academy of Design, Volume I: 1826-1925'' (New York and Manchester: Hudson Hills Press, 2004), p. 45

/ref> Clarke was a member of the

National Sculpture Society Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members ...

, the

National Arts Club The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and members club on Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1898 by Charles DeKay, an art and literary critic of the ''New York Times'' to "stimulate, foster, and promote public ...

, the

Architectural League of New York The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture, urbanism, and related disciplines". The league dates from 1881, when Cass Gilbert organized meetings at the Salmagundi Club for ...

and the

Century Association The Century Association is a private social, arts, and dining club in New York City, founded in 1847. Its clubhouse is located at 7 West 43rd Street near Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. It is primarily a club for men and women with distinction ...

Personal

On October 3, 1886, Clarke married Adelaide Knox, the daughter of Theodore Hand Knox and Adelaide Susan Jenney, in Geneva, Switzerland. The couple had three children: daughters Alma Adelaide Clarke and Beatrice Clarke Remington, and son Charles John Clarke, named for his grandfather and known as "Jack." Clarke lived in Europe for 11 years, and returned with his family to the United States in 1894. He hired architect

Wilson Eyre Wilson Eyre, Jr. (October 30, 1858 – October 23, 1944) was an American architect, teacher and writer who practiced in the Philadelphia area. He is known for his deliberately informal and welcoming country houses, and for being an innovator in ...

to design an Arts & Crafts-style summer house and studio, "Fernbrook," in Lenox, Massachusetts. Completed in 1904, Clarke generally worked there from May to October. Clarke's brothers, Louis, John and James, were pioneers in automobile production. Louis Semple Clarke patented the porcelain-insulated

sparkplug A spark plug (sometimes, in British English, a sparking plug, and, colloquially, a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/air ...

Legacy

The

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
PAFA also holds a collection of his correspondence and photograph
(PDF)
File:'A Fool's Fool' by Thomas Shields Clarke.jpg, ''A Fool's Fool'' (1887), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts File:Clarke Night Market Godey's May 1895 p.472.jpg, ''The Night Market in Morocco'' (c. 1891), unlocated File:Clarke A Gondola Girl Godey's May 1895 p.473.jpg, ''A Gondola Girl'' (1892), private collection File:Clarke Morning, Noon & Night Johnson vol.3 p.400.jpg, ''Morning, Noon and Night'' (c. 1892) cartoon for a stained glass window File:USS Princeton Bell.jpg, USS ''Princeton'' bell (1898) File:2016 Appellate courthouse west facade statuary and caryatids.jpg, ''The Four Seasons'' caryatides (1899), Appellate Division Courthouse of New York File:Clarke To Alma Mater Brush&Pencil Aug1900 p.199.jpg, ''To Alma Mater'' (1900), plaster model File:'The Cider Press' by Thomas Shields Clarke.JPG, ''The Cider Press'', outside the De Young Museum, San Francisco

Notes

References

External links

*
Thomas Shields Clarke
from Smithsonian Institution Research Information System
Thomas Shields Clarke
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Thomas Shields 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters 1860 births 1920 deaths Artists from Pittsburgh Princeton University alumni American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Burials at Allegheny Cemetery National Sculpture Society members National Academy of Design associates 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists