Field Marshall Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM, CH, ED, KC, FRS (1870-1950)
after Josselin Reginald Courtenay Bodley (1893 – 1974)
Category
Photographs
Date
1949
Materials
Glass, Passe-partout, Photographic paper
Measurements
195 x 155 x 17 mm
Order this imageCollection
Chartwell, Kent
NT 1102663
Summary
Photograph, Field Marshall Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM, CH, ED, KC, FRS (1870-1950) after Josselin Reginald Courtenay Bodley (Veaux 1893 – Paris 1974). General Smuts, head only after the portrait by Josselin Bodley, 1949. In a red passe-partout frame. Inscribed on reverse "This is a photograph of a picture my brother painted the last time Field Marshal Smuts was in England". 1969 Schedule P. 85 Original in Store room 1 Box 1.
Full description
The following image is from a book called; ‘Churchill’s Confidant, Jan Smuts, Enemy to Lifelong Friend’, by Richard Steyn. It shows the picture on Churchill’s desk in the study. The text below, is also from the same book and epitomises the type of relationship Churchill and Smuts had. ‘If a picture is worth a thousand words, the photograph of Jan Smuts displayed prominently on Winston Churchill’s old writing desk at his country estate, Chartwell, in Kent, is the most striking expression of the close relationship between these two grand old men of Empire. Almost every other photo on the desk is of a member of the Churchill family.’ Relations with Churchill In 1899, Smuts interrogated the young Winston Churchill, who had been captured by Afrikaners during the Boer War, which was the first time they met. The next time was in 1906, while Smuts was leading a mission about South Africa's future to London before Churchill, then Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. The British Cabinet shared Churchill's sympathetic view, which led to self-government within the year, followed by dominion status for the Union of South Africa in 1910. Their association continued in the First World War, when Lloyd George appointed Smuts, in 1917, to the war cabinet in which Churchill served as Munitions Minister. By then, both had formed a fast friendship that continued through Churchill's "wilderness years" and the Second World War, to Smuts’ death. Lord Moran, Churchill's personal physician, wrote in his diary: Smuts is the only man who has any influence with the PM; indeed, he is the only ally I have in pressing counsels of common sense on the PM. Smuts sees so clearly that Winston is irreplaceable, that he may make an effort to persuade him to be sensible. Churchill: “Smuts and I are like two old love-birds moulting together on a perch, but still able to peck.” When Eden said at a meeting of the Chiefs of Staff (29th October 1942) that Montgomery's Middle East offensive was "petering out", after having some late night drinks with Churchill the previous night, Alanbrooke had told Churchill "fairly plainly" what he thought of Eden's ability to judge the tactical situation from a distance (Churchill was always impatient for his generals to attack at once). He was supported at the Chiefs of Staff meeting by Smuts. Alanbrooke said he was fortunate to be supported by: “a flow of words from the mouth of that wonderful statesman. It was as if oil had been poured on the troubled waters. The temperamental film-stars returned to their tasks - peace reigned in the dove cot!” Several books have been written by Richard Steyn Churchill & Smuts; From Enemies to Lifelong Friends Churchill’s Confidant; Jan Smuts Enemy to Lifelong Friend Churchill and Smuts; The Friendship
Makers and roles
after Josselin Reginald Courtenay Bodley (1893 – 1974), publisher