Patrick Gwynne (1913-2003)
Aubrey Claud Davidson-Houston (Dublin 1906 - 1995)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1948
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
510 x 410 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
The Homewood, Surrey
NT 864499
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Patrick Gwynne (1913-2003) by Major Aubrey Claud Davidson-Houston (Dublin 1906 - St Albans 1995), 1948. A half-length portrait of the architect, seated at a desk, turned to the right, gazing at the spectator, drawing on a drawing board with a tee-square, wearing a grey suit, grey pullover, black shirt and cream tie, shadow of a slatted Venetian blind on the wall on the left.
Full description
The architect of The Homewood, Patrick Gwynne, turned 35 in 1948 - the year that Aubrey Claud Davidson-Houston painted this portrait. Gwynne is shown working and smoking a cigarette at his drawing desk, having returned to practice following military service in the Second World War. He ran his office from The Homewood, presumably the setting for this likeness. At this time, Davidson-Houston was still a commissioned officer in the army. Following capture at Dunkirk in 1940, he had spent most of the war in the German Oflag 7B camp, passing the time by taking the portraits his fellow prisoners-of-war. These may have numbered as many and 600 to 700 - reports vary - but this penetrating likeness of Gwynne certainly demonstrates that he had developed a good technique. In 1949, the year following, he embarked on a professional career in art, enrolling at Slade School of Fine Art and then St Martin’s School of Art. A successful portrait painting career ensured, attracting royal patronage. He lived near Gwynne in Esher, Surrey but worked from a studio in London, arriving every morning by 7am till his death at the age of 89.
Provenance
Given to the National Trust by Rosalind Moysen in 2004.
Makers and roles
Aubrey Claud Davidson-Houston (Dublin 1906 - 1995), artist