Winston Churchil (1874-1965) wearing a French Poilu's Steel Helmet
Sir John Lavery (Belfast 1856 - Kilkenny 1941)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1916 (inscribed on reverse)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
762 x 686 mm (30 x 27 in)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Chartwell, Kent
NT 1102452
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Winston Churchill (1874-1965) wearing a French Poilu's Steel Helmet by Sir John Lavery (Belfast 1856 - Kilkenny 1941), signed and inscribed on the back, 1916. A half-length portrait, in service dress uniform and wearing French Poilu's helmet. The frame has the presentation tablet 'From The Officers of the Armoured Car Squadrons'. Lavery is thought to have met Churchill when he was First Lord of the Admiralty (1911-14), around 1911, when he painted a portrait of his sister-in-law, Lady Gwendoline Churchill, in 1911 (exh. RA, 1913). But according to Churchill's own 'Painting as a Pastime', and Lavery's autobiography, it was only after Churchill's enforced resignation and leisure following the failure of the Dardanelles Campaign, at the end of May 1915, that he (and his wife, née Hazel Martyn, who were near neighbours), taught Churchill to paint seriously in oils; and there are on loan at Chartwell companion portraits of one another at work which date from that year. This must have been before Churchill got a commission, as Major in the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards (it was only in January 1916 that he transferred to the 6th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers, as its Colonel), in the uniform of --- which (with the addition of a French infantryman's helmet - the very helmet that hangs beneath the portrait) he is purportedly shown in the present picture. The artist's picture-register lists four portraits of Churchill painted in 1915, one of which this would then be (another portrait, in civilian dress, donated by him to the Hugh Lane Municipal Art Gallery, Dublin in 1935, forms part of Lavery's set of British and Irish political figures; cf. exh. cat. Sir John Lavery, RA, Ulster Museum, Belfast and Fine Art Society, Edinburgh & London, 1984-85, no.77).
Provenance
Commissioned by the officers of the Armoured Car Squadrons, in gratitude for Churchill's encouragement of them, for presentation to him; and painted in the latter part of 1915, before his departure for the front on 18 November; transferred by HM Treasury, 1984
Credit line
Chartwell, The Churchill Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
signed and inscribed on reverse and presentation tablet "From The Officers of the Armoured Car Squadrons"
Makers and roles
Sir John Lavery (Belfast 1856 - Kilkenny 1941), artist