Check the link at the top of the thread, which is to the original discussion--at the end of it, someone has posted a long biography of the author, John Henry Titus--the artist is named, as is his wife

Here is an except--

    "The Face on The Bar Room Floor" contains a message of moral, clothed in beautiful romance of fact and legend, covering a period of more than 600 years. Artist Bob and Madgelene, his sweetheart and ideal soul, were in reality identified with the legend, which had its origin in an Alpine royal family mystery. The "Ole Pine Tavern" at Jefferson, Ohio was a Famous way-side inn, in the early stage days: "Astir the pine in somber lay.".... the pine was a favorite stopping place for the travelers.


Which we take to mean that the story itself is an old Alpine legend, associated with some royal family, that the tavern that the poem is set in is a real place, and that the characters, the artist Bob, and his wife, Magdalene, were real--There are a couple of Bob's paintings mentioned in the article (though not his last name), none of which are "The Hunt of Fame", which may not be the title of a famous painting (at least I couldn't find it, if it was), but is a line from John Dryden's play about Cleopatra, "All for Love"