Mystery solved: the Ode To Darwin original by William Holbrook Beard (painted 1891) [update]

by Jack Brummet

This is a painting I bought for $100 at a roadside stand in Jensen Beach, FLA in 2006 (It cost $150 to ship it home in its delicate, ornate frame). The painting is titled "Ode To Darwin" and was painted by David Zarkin.

The mystery of its origins was solved last night by an intrepid member of the Facebook Lowbrowart group, Jon Groobz  (see details below).

Detail:

The original canvas, titled "The Discovery of Adam," was painted by William Holbrook Beard in 1891 (30 years after Darwin published his famous book).  There is a good web site here with this and some other paintings (he was a fascinating painter).  The painting 

The painting I own is an amazing copy of this original, but I know no details of the painter at all or how or where he copied this work.  Here is the original, which resides at the Toledo Museum of Art.

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