The recent unveiling of the Frederic P. Olcott portrait in Bernardsville’s Borough Hall drew quite a lot of attention. Olcott was arguably the town’s most important benefactor, and it’s fitting that he now has a place of honor. But who was the artist who painted the portrait?
Stephen Seymour Thomas was a Texan, born in San Augustine on Aug. 20, 1868. He studied in New York and Paris and is known for both landscapes and portraits. Woodrow Wilson was a subject of Thomas three times, and one of those portraits is now in the White House Collection (see below). The Olcott portrait dates to the early 1900s, perhaps when Thomas worked at Bryant Park Studios, 80 West 40th Street, overlooking Bryant Park.
Following World War I, Thomas moved to La Crescente, CA, where he died on February 29, 1956,
See Olcott article from the Bernardsville News.
Link to Catalog Record.
