This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: richardbrown444 Surnames: BLAIR Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.blair/1958.1.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Marion Blair, Painter of the Seward Portraits Taken from: Pioneer Painters of Indiana by Wilbur D. Peat Published in 1954 The man who made the strongest mark as a portrait painter in the village of Bloomington during the Civil War period was Marion Blair. A native of the town, he attended the university, married a local girl, and gradually came to be recognized as the community's resident painter. It appears that he was unschooled in the finer points of painting; if he received any instruction it was probably from itinerants passing through Bloomington or in the studio of one of the artists established in Indianapolis. Blair was born in 1824, the son of Enos and Rachel Blair. When a young man he moved a few miles south of town to a spot called Blair Hollow. His strong inclination toward art, literature, and natural history, coupled with his antipathy for farming or manual labor of any kind, did not make him a good provider for his growing family. His wife, unable to cope with his habits, finally left him and moved to Kansas, taking their children with her. Blair had a number of portrait commissions in Bloomington and apparently in Indianapolis also. Most of his paintings seem to have been made in the 50s and early 60s. During this period he did the portraits of Austin Seward and his wife. His last portrait is said to be of Abraham Lincoln painted after he viewed his body lying in state in the capitol building in Indianapolis. He died in 1901. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.