Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Le Clear, Thomas

LE CLEAR, Thomas, artist, b. in Owego, N. Y., 17 March, 1818; d. in Rutherford Park, N. J., 26 Nov., 1882. He began to follow art professionally before he had had any instruction, and his later advantages in that direction were confined to simple observation of the works of other artists. He went to London, Canada, with his father in 1832, and after painting portraits for a time there, and in Elmira and Rochester, he made his way to New York city and opened a studio in 1839. In 1844-'60 he resided in Buffalo, but afterward returned to New York. In 1863 he was elected a National academician. Among his compositions are “The Reprimand”; “Marble-Players”; and “Itinerants” (1862). Of his numerous portraits, one of the best is that of George Bancroft, at the Century club. New York; other excellent portraits are those of William Cullen Bryant, Bayard Taylor, President Fillmore, and Edwin Booth as Hamlet.