The Rt Hon. William McEwan MP (1827-1913)
Jean Joseph Benjamin Constant (1845 - 1902)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1900 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1270 x 965 mm (50 x 38 in)
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1246445
Caption
According to the sitter's daughter, Dame Margaret Greville, this ‘striking likeness’ of McEwan was the result of six sittings at the Savoy hotel and cost £1,200. Constant, who was enjoying significant success in both London and Paris when the portrait was taken in 1900, also attracted the patronage of Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales, and Pope Leo XIII. Greville nonetheless claimed that the artist regarded the work as his masterpiece, or ‘chef d’oeuvre’.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Rt Hon. William McEwan MP (1827-1913) by Jean-Joseph-Benjamin Constant (1845 – 1902), signed and dated: Benjamin Constant 1900. A three-quarter length portrait in morning dress. McEwan is depicted in an armchair, turned to the left, gazing at the viewer. In the background is a column with a gold drape. There is a glimpse of a wooded landscape and cloudy sky on the left.
Provenance
Painted in six sittings at the Savoy Hotel, London and cost £1.2000; The bequest of Margaret (Anderson) McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald - later Dame Margaret - Henry Fulke Greville, DBE (1863-1942) from probate records linked with the donation of the property to the National Trust in 1943. This item found on the record for Polesden Lacey pictures, drawings etc., the Dining Room, page 124.
Credit line
Polesden Lacey, The McEwan Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Benjamin Constant / 1900 (signed and dated, bottom right corner)
Makers and roles
Jean Joseph Benjamin Constant (1845 - 1902), artist
