biography of George DURY (1817-1894)

Birth place: Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany

Death place: Nashville, TN

Addresses: Nashville, TN

Profession: Portrait painter

Studied: Munich, Germany

Exhibited: Tenn. Hist. Soc. at Watkins Inst., Nashville, Tenn., 1886 (solo)

Work: The White House (Mrs. James Knox Polk"); State Library at Nashville (Tenn.); Fine Arts Ctr., Cheekwood, Nashville, TN"

Comments: Began his career in Munich, Germany, where he was commissioned by Ludvig I to paint a portrait of the King's mistress, Lola Montez. Political troubles, however, forced him to leave that country in 1849, and he took up residence in Wartburg, TN. Dury moved to Nashville in 1850 and enjoyed a successful career, painting nobables such as Jefferson Davis, Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee.

Sources: G&W; WPA Guide, Tennessee, 171; Nashville CD 1860; Egbert, Princeton Portraits. More recently, see Gerdts, Art Across America, vol. 2:139