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- A 7-1/2 inch high by 4-7/8 inch wide color portrait of Georges Clemenceau mounted into an 11 inch high by 7-1/8 inch wide mat. The portrait depicts the French Prime Minister from the shoulders up, a period hat above his heavy white eyebrows and mustache. Signed "Clemenceau" in ink on the mat below the image. The portrait, mounted with glue from the verso, is scratched, heavily creased, and subsequently waxed to protect it. The crude mat's backing is stained and the keyhole mat itself is cracked at the bottom and top edges. An autograph letter accompanying the signed portrait attests that Clemenceau signed the portrait on his deathbed. The letter, dated November 29, 1929, reads as follows: "Monsieur, Monsieur Clemenceau ayant signe cette photographie que vous lui avez envoyee la veille de sa mort, je me fais le devoir de vous l'envoyer. Bien respectueusement." Clemenceau died 5 days earlier, on November 24th. This letter has been folded for mailing.The leader of the Radical Party, Georges Clemenceau played a central role during France's Third Republic, serving as it's Prime Minister from 1906 to 1909 and subsequently leading the nation in the First World War. He again served as his nation's Prime Minister from 1917 to 1920. One of the principal architects of the Treaty of Versailles, he pushed for the restitution of Alsace-Lorraine to France.Provenance: From the autograph collection of Seymour Halpern.The Queens, New York Republican Congressman Seymour Halpern (1913-1997) started his political career as a campaign aide to New York's powerful mayor Fiorella La Guardia and first served in New York's State Senate for 14 years before seeking a seat in the U.S. Congress. In Albany Halpern sponsored 279 bills that became law, including measures on schools, housing, civil rights, nutrition and mental health. A Liberal, he was something of an anomaly as the lone Republican representative from New York City, and generally garnered support from Labor Unions and endorsement from the Liberal Party. Yet he never even considered switching parties as he considered membership in the Republican Party a family tradition and commitment. While he found ample time for his private pursuits, including painting and collecting autographs, he took his legislative duties very seriously. Of these, he was proudest of his co-sponsorship of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and of the original 1965 Medicare legislation. Seller Inventory # 34333
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