By Rita McInerney

Unveiling of a portrait of Monsignor John F. McDonough, archdiocesan administrator, took place Sunday afternoon, Jan. 17, at the Cathedral of Christ the King. The ceremony preceded the 5:30 p.m. Mass which he celebrated.

The portrait, painted by Thomas V. Nash, an award winning artist whose studio is located in Roswell, was commissioned by friends of Monsignor McDonough last June.

“When the jubilee committee was being planned early last year, someone suggested it might be nice to have a portrait of the monsignor. He had been at the cathedral 26 years,” according to Francine White, a member of the committee. She explained that the group established a fine arts committee which selected Nash after interviewing and viewing the work of several artists.

The presentation of the portrait to Father Richard Kieran, who succeeded Monsignor McDonough as cathedral administrator last June, took place on the 41st anniversary of Monsignor McDonough’s arrival from Boston in 1947. He served the cathedral from 1947 until 1956, from 1964 to 1966, and returned as administrator in 1972.

Elected as archdiocesan administrator by the priests’ advisory council Aug. 14, because of the illness of Archbishop Donnellan, he performed his duties until undergoing surgery for a malignant tumor in the colon on Nov. 12.

Now, “feeling fine,” he is resuming activities. He said he is scheduled to preside at the groundbreaking of the second personal care home for Catholic Social Services on Saturday, Jan. 23, in East Point. He is also planning to attend the three dinners scheduled for the opening of the annual Charities Drive.

Mrs. White said the portrait will be hung in the Hyland Center on the wall opposite the portrait of Monsignor Joseph P. Cassidy, who served the cathedral for 19 years, until 1964.

“Even the most critical (of the committee members) were thrilled” with the painting, Mrs. White said.

The artists has won numerous awards for his work; one important to him is the best in show prize for a portrait entered in the Jubilee Arts Festival in Cobb County in June, 1986. He also won outstanding merit awards in 1981 and 1983 in competitions sponsored by the Portrait Institute in New York and Washington, D.C.

In a telephone interview with the Georgia Bulletin, Nash said he knew he wanted to be a portrait painter when he was 10 years old; in a few years he was painting members of his family. He studied at the Art Students League in New York City and privately with painters in Provincetown on Cape Cod, Mass. and in Maryland.

He has painted people prominent in business, government and sports in Atlanta. He said he doesn’t advertise but is “staying in business through word of mouth” recommendations. He is president of the Portrait Society of Atlanta.

He called Monsignor McDonough “very cooperative” during the painting of the portrait. He painted him standing, against a background which faintly suggests the stone of the cathedral interior, wearing a long cape of magenta color over his cassock. The portrait is in oil on linen and measures 36 by 48 inches.