1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Abbey, Edwin Austin

ABBEY, EDWIN AUSTIN (1852–1911), American painter (see 1.11), died in London, Aug. 1 1911. The last years of his life were devoted to mural paintings for the Capitol at Harrisburg, Pa., his native state. He completed "The Apotheosis of Pennsylvania," which stands behind the Speaker's chair in the House of Representatives, also "The 24 Hours" for the ceiling of the dome; but for the Senate chamber he finished only one painting "Von Steuben Training the American Soldiers at Valley Forge." In 1910 there was completed under his supervision the decoration of the Peers' corridor of the Houses of Parliament. He left bequests of his works to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and to the National Gallery in London. In 1912, the Old Masters' Exhibition of the Royal Academy, held at Burlington House, London, included over 300 works of Abbey's loaned for this special occasion as a memorial to him.