Picture of "Gray"
Henry Scott Augustus Tuke, RA (York 1858 - Falmouth 1929)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
c. 1922
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
425 x 527 mm (16 3/4 x 20 3/4 in)
Order this imageCollection
Clouds Hill, Dorset
NT 628439
Summary
Picture of “Gray”, oil painting on canvas, by Henry Scott Augustus Tuke (York 1858 - Falmouth 1929), c. 1922. “Gray” is a pseudonym for T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) (1888-1935), who modelled for the picture. Tuke worked from multiple models for individual figures in his pictures. This is why the soldier looks strikingly like Lawrence, who tuned 33 in 1922, but is not a perfect resemblance. Lawrence modelled for at least two finished pictures by Tuke, including this one. He bought both pictures when they came on the market in 1926. He gave one of them away and kept the current picture (see Provenance). The soldier on the beach, getting undressed, is wearing the uniform of the Cornwall Royal Garrison Artillery which was amalgamated with the Royal Field Artillery in 1924. The uniform is identified by the badge on the cap which lies on the beach with his jacket. Another young man is already in the sea. The date and signature on the painting have been scratched out, however the picture is likely to have been painted in 1922 because of its position order in Tuke's Register of paintings now in the Tate Archive, which is broadly chronological. In June 1922, Lawrence was on holiday in Falmouth, where Tuke's studio was located. It has previously been suggested that this picture was a preparatory work for an earlier Tuke painting, ‘Morning Splendour’ (exhibited 1921), which was later repainted by the artist with Lawrence's features. However, technical examination shows the work is not a sketch and was not begun as such. There are no extensive retouched or altered passages.
Provenance
According to the register of Tuke's paintings, now in the Tate Archive (TGA 9019/1/2/2 p. 65), the picture was sold as 'Picture of "Gray"' to R. F. C. Scott for £26 5s. R. F. C. Scott is believed to be Sydney Lomer (1880-1926). An entry under 'Notes' alongside reads 'An R.G.A. [Royal Garrison Artillery] soldier seated on the beach.' Another note beneath this one reads: 'When R. F. C. Scott died "Gray" bought these two at the sale of his effects for a fiver!' The other picture referred to is 'Small Bathing Picture', which had also been purchased by R. F. C. Scott for £26 5s. "Gray" is a pseudonym for T. E. Lawrence. Lawrence gave 'Small Bathing Picture' to Clare Sydney Smith, she records this in her book 'The Golden Reign' (1940): 'He chose three of his pictures to give me [including] a very gracious oil-painting of boys bathing by the sea-shore by Tuke' (p. 166). It is illustrated with the caption 'Painting of T.E.S.' (p.172). T.E.S. stands for Thomas Edward Shaw, another Lawrence pseudonym. A Tuke was recorded in an inventory at Clouds Hill in 1926 and was at Clouds Hill at the time of T. E. Lawrence's death in 1935. Ownership then passed to T. E. Lawrence's brother, Arnold W. Lawrence. Arnold W. Lawrence gave the picture to the National Trust in 1963. He had previously given Clouds Hill to the National Trust in 1936.
Credit line
Clouds Hill, The T. E. Lawrence Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Recto: bottom right: date and signature scratched out; possibly H.S. TUKE 1922
Makers and roles
Henry Scott Augustus Tuke, RA (York 1858 - Falmouth 1929), artist
References
Charles Grosvenor, An Iconography: The Portraits of T. E. Lawrence, Pasadena 1988, pp.114 - 15 no. 53
