Lot 243: Darius Joseph MacEgan (1856-1939) President Cosgrave

Darius Joseph MacEgan (1856-1939) President Cosgrave pencil
signed ""MacEgan"" lower left, signed and inscribed with title and dated 1922 on backing board
46 by 36cm., 18 by 14in.
Provenance:
A. Bassi, Wellington Quay framing label on reverse; Private collection
A scarce contemporaneous portrait of William T. Cosgrave, first President of the Irish Free State.
Darius Joseph MacEgan, also known as "The MacEgan" (he was the last of a line of direct descendents of the clan MacEgan), was born in Roscrea, Co. Tipperary. He studied at the School of Art in Dublin and later in London, and first exhibited at the RHA in 1881. The Gorry Gallery held a memorial exhibition of his work in 1940.