- Title:
- Portrait of Alexander Augustus George Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone
- Object name(s):
- Picture
- Collection:
- Senate House Library
- Comments:
- The Earl of Athlone (1874-1957) was Chancellor of the University of London 1932-1955, his Chancellorship including the University's move from the Imperial Institute in South Kensington to Senate House in Bloomsbury and the difficult period when the University was dispersed during the Second World War. He had already been Governor-General of South Africa, 1923-1931, and during his Chancellorship was Governor-General of Canada, 1940-1946. "He brought distinction to many University functions, together with his wife, Princess Alice" -- N. Harte. Signed portrait. In gilt gesso frame, Louis XV style, by John Tanous. This is the second attempt at the painting: "After finishing the portrait of the Earl of Athlone, he [John] agreed to show it the following day to the sitter's wife. She arrived with her husband and went into his studio. Two minutes later they burst out, looking furious. John stook in the doorway quietly lighting his pipe as they drove off. Egerton Cooper, who had watched the incident from his studio near by, hurried over to ask what was wrong. 'I tore the painting to pieces,' explained John. 'I suddenly couldn't bear it.'" -- Michael Holroyd, Augustus John (Pimlico, 2011), p. 467. ?Exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1941.
- Dimension:
- 125 x 100 cm
- Material:
- oil on canvas
- Normal location:
- Senate House
- Object history note:
- Commissioned by UoL in 1935 and received by the University in 1940 (Sen. Min. 79, 11 Dec. 1940)
- Object name:
- Picture
- Object number:
- PO-0151
- Object production date:
- 1940
- Object production person:
- John, Augustus Edwin, Sir
- Person's association:
- Artist
- Person's birth date:
- 1878-1961
- Person's gender:
- M
- Person's nationality:
- Welsh
- Text:
- N. Harte, The University of London 1836-1986, fig. 258
- Text reason:
- Online catalogue
- User's reference:
- University Archive, UoL/VP/2/7; Sen. Min. 79, 11 Dec. 1940.
Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/8894f743-0b4e-3ae3-918f-df9eef2ca44f
Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC
Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/8894f743-0b4e-3ae3-918f-df9eef2ca44f, Senate House Library, CC BY-NC
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