The artist [1835-1892]; by inheritance to his wife, Rebekah Lewis Bonham; purchased between 1896 and 1898 by Thomas B. Clarke [1848-1931], New York;[1] [his sale, American Art Association, New York, 14-18 February 1899, no. 232]; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art. [1] In a 22 December 1896 letter from Clarke to Bonham’s wife Rebekah (Horace Bonham Papers, York Heritage Trust Archives and Library, York, Pennsylvania: Box II; copy in NGA curatorial files) Clarke states: “I expect to be the owner of the picture and having hesitated about adding it to my collection because of its cracked condition...” _Nearing the Issue_ was included in a January 1898 exhibition of “loaned paintings” at the Union League Club, lent by Clarke. The Thomas B. Clarke Papers at the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution do not include documentation of Clarke’s purchase of the painting.