the smaller private Boston art exhibitions. His work, which seems to 

 have been exclusively portraits, shows no influence of the more imagina- 

 tive schools of painting of that time; it was said, however, to be "char- 

 acterized by a rare fidelity and accuracy, and by a rugged underlying 

 strength on the part of the artist." 7 The faithfulness of Clark's portraits 

 was sometimes obtained by the use of a prism — a camera lucida — to out- 

 line distinguishing features. 8 



In 1 836 Alvan Clark renounced engraving to earn his living by painting 

 portraits and miniatures. He attributed this decision to the encouragement 

 and example of Lucius Manlius Sargent, an itinerant temperance lecturer. 

 During his tour through Fall River, Sargent sat for an ivory miniature 

 by Clark, for which he paid forty dollars — twice as much as Clark had 

 ever received for a single portrait. 9 Clark thereupon moved his family 

 to Cambridgeport (as the center section of Cambridge was then called) 

 and opened a studio in the artists' district of Boston. Years later he 

 recalled, "In that room on Tremont Street I painted heads for twenty 

 years, and took in over $20,000, making a living and laying up a little 

 something besides." 10 Portraits of a president of Harvard, Thomas Hill, 

 and the statesman Daniel Webster hung in the Clark home. In later years 

 criminals were deterred from tampering with the Clark telescope factory 

 by a portrait of Constable Clapp, the renowned rogue catcher. Desiring 

 a likeness of his astronomical correspondent, W. R. Dawes, before he was 

 able actually to meet him, Clark painted his portrait from a daguerreo- 

 type. He also painted portraits of Nathan Loomis and the chemist Robert 

 Hare. Clark had met Hare in 1856 and had requested an opportunity to 

 paint his portrait. A Clark family favorite, this picture hung in their 

 home until 1869, when it was sold to the Smithsonian Institution for 

 $ioo. 11 Although he evidently enjoyed portraiture, Clark readily re- 

 nounced it in favor of telescope construction, a move that may well have 

 been encouraged by the strong competition from the popular portrait 

 photographers. He kept his studio open until 1 860, however, when the 



7 Garth Galbraith, "The American Telescope Makers," The Cambridge Chronicle, 

 12 March 1887. 



8 Samuel L. Gerry, "The Old Masters of Boston," New England Magazine, n.s. 

 vol. 3 (1891), pp. 686-687. 



9 Alvan Clark autobiography, op. cit., p. 112. 



10 Quoted in Garth Galbraith, "The American Telescope Makers," op. cit. 



11 Alvan Clark to Joseph Henry, 5 October 1869 (letter in Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion Archives). 



