Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer (1906-1969)
Allan Gwynne-Jones (Richmond 1892 – Eastleach Turville 1982)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1969 - 1970
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
960 x 860 mm
Order this imageCollection
Felbrigg, Norfolk
NT 1401204
Caption
The sitter was a talented author, landowner and devoted public servant, who left Felbrigg to the National Trust on his death in 1969. His quiet demeanour could sometimes give way to anger: the explosion when a guest inconvenienced his staff by coming late to dinner is recounted by Sir Brinsley Ford, and others wince at the memory of his wrath when he discovered someone smoking a cigarette in Felbrigg church. He carefully balanced the needs of the house against those of his tenants, restraining the urge to clean important pictures when the money was more urgently needed for the improvement of cottages. The portrait was unfinished at the time of his death, and the somewhat unsatisfactory nature of the portrait is due to it having been completed posthumously. Apparently the artist was reluctant to end the pretext for his agreeable trips to Felbrigg.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer (1906-1969) (unfinished) by Allan Gwynne-Jones RA (Richmond 1892 – Eastleach Turville 1982), initialled and dated, lower right: 1969-70. Seated in the dining room at Felbrigg Hall, turned to his left. The portrait is unfinished, reputedly because the artist was reluctant to end the pretext for his agreeable visits to Felbrigg.
Provenance
Part of the Windham Collection. The hall and contents were bequeathed to the National Trust in 1969 by Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer (1906-1969)
Makers and roles
Allan Gwynne-Jones (Richmond 1892 – Eastleach Turville 1982)