Charles Tyson Yerkes

Through shrewd and often unscrupulous business practices, the financier and entrepreneur Charles Yerkes established streetcar lines in Chicago in the late 1880s and headed the syndicate that built the London Underground at the turn of the century. In 1892, Yerkes contributed some of his fortune to the University of Chicago to build the Yerkes Observatory. It included what was then the world’s largest refracting telescope—one of the principal attractions of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Yerkes helped underwrite the exposition and served on its fine arts committee. He also loaned several works of art, including twelve paintings by his favorite contemporary artist, the Belgian painter Jan Van Beers. This portrait, a gift from the artist to his faithful patron, was one of the works on display. In 1895, Yerkes erected a lavish mansion in New York City to house his large collection of European paintings and sculptures.