About this lot
Description
Julian Russell Story (American, 1857-1919) Portrait of the Duke de Moro (d.1921) standing, full length, in Court dress before a fireplace, a small dog at his side signed lower right "Julian Story 1889" and inscribed along the top edge "Moro Phillips Long House" and charged with his coat-of-arms and crest issuing from a Ducal coronet" oil on canvas 203 x 115cm (79 x 45in)
Provenance: Bequeathed by the sitter to the grandparents of the present owner Exhibited: London, Royal Academy, 1890, 'Moro Phillips, Esq.', Gallery 1, Number 44 Other Notes: Julian Story was an English-born American painter, the son of the American neoclassical sculptor and poet, William Wetmore Story. He spent much of his time abroad, growing up in Rome but pursuing his education at Eton and Brasenose College, Oxford. Upon his graduation in 1879, Story went on to train under the American artist, Frank Duveneck, in Venice. He later moved to Paris, where he studied under Henri Gervex at the Académie Julien. He was well acquainted with John Singer Sargent, an influence which is evident in his brushwork. Travelling throughout his life, he exhibited his award-winning works in Paris, Berlin, San Francisco and Chicago. He painted genre and history paintings, however, he was most sought after as a portraitist by many celebrity clients, including King Edward VII. Following his marriage to the American opera singer Emma Eames, he settled in Philadelphia in 1902. Sakrovolaski Phillippi Moro who was born circa 1812, took part in the Polish revolt against the Russian annexation of their country and then went in to exile, eventually settling in the United States. From an ancient and aristocratic Polish family (who it is believed accompanied Bona Sforza, the sister in law of Lodovico Il Moro, Duke of Milan when she married King Sigismund I of Poland in 1518, remaining there after her death) he is said to have married a Mexican heiress and after her death, with her money, he helped found the city of Galveston in Texas, where he constructed its first substantial building that became known as Phillips Castle. Later he moved to Philadelphia where he increased his already vast fortune through the manufacture of chemical fertilisers, mining and real estate, some of it in Canada. At his death in 1885 his eldest son - the sitter in the present painting - defied his father's wishes and removed his inheritance (allegedly some $15 million) to Europe where he re-assumed the title of Duke Moro of Moro which had supposedly been granted to a forbear in the 16th century. The Duke ended his days in Chichester, dying in 1921 when his nearest male relative rejected inheriting the Dukedom by refusing to give up his American citizenship and move to Europe. The Duke's fortune and property, including this portrait, therefore, went instead to the English grandfather of the present owner of the painting, whom he had effectively adopted. The American blood family however contested the will and went to court and successfully reclaimed the fortune but not the Duke's chattels. The Moro ducal crest which appears in the top left corner of the portrait, is according to Fairbairn ( Book of Crests of the Families of Great Britain and Ireland, illustration 73 of Plate 35 and page 102) on page 444, 'out of a ducal coronet a bear's gamb holding a black mulberry ' (mora & moro is Italian for mulberry).
Oil on canvas which is unlined. The canvas tension is slightly slack and stretcher bar marks have formed, notably across the centre of the painting. The paint layer is ain a good, stable condition. There are some age cracks. The varnish is yellowed and dull with age. There is some wear and abrasion to the surface of the gilding.
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