Painted by Theodore Gegoux (1850-1931) at the Gleall Castle at Portland Oregon in about 1911.
Photo by Fran Bryant 1999
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The Portland Rose has as a background the view from the hillside near Gleall Castle. The riverfront of Portland, circa 1911, can be seen in the right center of the painting and Mount Hood is distinguishable in the top right. The woman depicted here is not known to us. Roses were a popular theme with Gegoux during this period, and they remain a passion of Portland residents to this day. Go see The Official Site of the Portland Rose Festival. Along with the Portland Rose, we include at this website, other roses by Gegoux: Three Roses, A Bunch of Roses, and the smaller Roses on Wood which were all painted during this same period.
Gegoux having left Watertown, New York in December of 1909, established a studio at the Gleall Castle. The Portland Rose is a major transitional piece which Gégoux had finished by the time of his son Frank's visit to Gleall Castle in June of 1911, Frank's photo album clearly shows the castle and a completed Portland Rose at this time. The painting was not signed.
The Portland Rose measures 77 inches by 43 inches in size. It is oil painted on canvas. A temporary canvas backing was applied with bee's wax and the painting was restretched in 1977 at Austin, Texas. The restoration of the Portland Rose was completed at the Lucas Conservation Laboratory, in 1998. The painting was relined, cleaned, sealed, and retouched.
