George Frederick Clarke, Portrait Painter
(b. 1823, d. 1906)
Portrait Painter
From A Dictionary of Irish Artists 1913
Was born at Carrick-on-Suir on the 13th April, 1823, son of Usher Clarke, brewer, and Sarah R. Corbett. He commenced his art career in Dublin, and from 1845 to 1848 exhibited portraits in the Royal Hibernian Academy. Anxious to advance himself he left Ireland and settled in London, where he exhibited in the Royal Academy and at the Society of British Artists between 1868 and 1872. A painter of considerable talent, he for a time enjoyed a fair practice; but during the last twenty years of his life he did more copying than original work, and was much employed by Sir Francis Grant in making copies of his pictures for engravers. Eventually, through failure of his sight, he had to abandon work. He was throughout his life a keen sportsman, fond of shooting and fishing and all outdoor sports. He died on the 8th March, 1906.