110603

Preparatory work

Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood 1932

Head and shoulders in profile facing the left, wearing a suit and tie

Charcoal on paper, 73.7 x 51 cm (29 x 20 in.)

Sitters’ Book II, opp. f. 73:  Cecil 1 June 1932

Studio Inventory, p. 136 (1): Lord Robert Cecil

Private Collection

De László painted the primary portrait of Viscount Cecil of Chelwood [4053] in 1932, which was a commission instigated by the sitters’ colleagues and admirers in the hope that the picture would one day be in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. Over the course of the sittings in June of that year he also painted a head and shoulders study portrait [4055], a preparatory oil sketch [4058], two preparatory drawings [3287] [3292] and the present picture, which is virtually identical in composition to the study portrait.

The present picture is thought to have been kept by the artist as a souvenir of his sitter and would have remained in his collection on his death. It was not, however, recorded amongst the pictures in the Studio Inventory. As it remains in the collection of one of de László’s descendants it may simply have been overlooked.

For biographical details on the sitter see [4053].

KF 2015