Occasional Papers 61
Through his friendship with James McElroy,
Donal O=Callaghan,
while director of what was in those days the
Carmelite development office, was able to
borrow from McElroy funds to purchase a five
storey tenement on East 28th Street,
Manhattan, a few doors west of the Carmelite
Priory and Our Lady of the Scapular Church.
His plans for the renovated building
included a Marian library, offices, a Third
Order meeting room and the editorial offices
of The Scapular. O=Callaghan
sought art works to enhance the building
named the Marian Center. One such attempt
was his commissioning of Richard King to do
five oil paintings.
Richard King was an Irish artist whose work
was mainly ecclesiastical though he did
design twenty-nine different stamps for the
Irish postal system between 1922 and 1965.
He also designed and executed stained glass
for churches throughout the world. O=Callaghan
became acquainted with King through Eltin
Griffin, an Irish Carmelite.
The titles of the five commissioned
paintings were: Our Lady of the Scapular
Mediatrix of All Graces, The Vision of Saint
Peter Thomas, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our
Lady of Knock and The Scapular Vision of
Saint Simon Stock. All five originally hung
in the Marian Center
[i]
With the demolition of the Marian Center for
New York City=s
Bellevue South project, the King paintings
went on a journey with a number of stops but
with the final destination of Saint Albert=s,
Middletown, NY. Our Lady of the Scapular
Mediatrix of All Graces was large in size
and had suffered some water damage. It was
rolled up and is in storage. Peter Thomas
hangs in a stairway while Our Lady of Mount
Carmel and Our Lady of Knock adorn the walls
of Pilgrims=
Hall, the dining area.
The whereabouts of
The Scapular Vision is a mystery. The present
author remembers it hanging (1964-67) in the
sacristy of Saint Simon Stock Church, Bronx,
NY. In the picture collection of the late
Gerard McCarthy, Simon Stock pastor 1961-68,
there is a poor quality Polaroid of the painting
so located. It seems to have disappeared in
subsequent years and all attempts to learn of
its whereabouts have been futile.
Through Donal O=Callaghan,
Eamon Carroll became a friend of Richard King.
After a visit to King=s
home in 1955, Carroll mentioned to O=Callaghan
that, as Eltin Griffin may have already told
him, King was anxious to use his favorite
technique on the uncompleted paintings for O=Callaghan.
This involved the use of heavy dabs of paint,
the palette technique. The disadvantage of this
method was that it required four to five months
to dry. Carroll related how King felt that using
the flat style of the completed Our Lady of the
Scapular Mediatrix of All Graces for the
uncompleted commissioned works that he would
not have done his best for O=Callaghan.
Carroll agreed with this but the paintings would
not be completed by the date originally fixed.
Carroll noted that the Vision of Saint Simon
Stock was completed but King wanted to add more
paint and if so, this would require time for
drying.[ii]
Alfred Isacsson, O. Carm.
.Crosby,
Louis
ACarmelite Marian Center,@
Sword 19 (Summer, 1956) 119-125.
A black and white reproduction of Our
Lady of the Scapular Mediatrix of All
Graces is included. Color reproductions
of three of the paintings were covers
for The Scapular. Our Lady of
Knock was the March-April, 1956 cover,
The Vision of Peter Thomas the May-June
1956 cover and Our Lady of Mount Carmel
the September-October, 1956 cover.
.Carroll
to O=Callaghan,
May 21, 1955, Moincoine, Ireland,
Archives New York Province.
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