10209

The Right Honourable James William Lowther 1908

Seated three-quarter length to the right, full face to the viewer and looking left, wearing the robes and wig of Speaker of the House of Commons, holding papers in his right hand

Oil on canvas, 152.4 x 121.9 cm (60 x 48 in.)

Inscribed top left: P.A. László . 1908 . 

Laib L6842(7) / C31(24): The Speaker

Sitters’ Book I, opp. f. 79: James W. Lowther / Hutton John Penrith / Dec 18/07

The Grand Jury Room, The Courts, Carlisle, Cumbria

De László’s 1907 exhibition at the Fine Art Society in London resulted in many important commissions, particularly those of  King Edward VII [7705] and Queen Alexandra [7707] and Arthur Lee [11019]. Lee became an important friend and patron of the artist and negotiated the opportunity for de László to travel to America in 1908 to paint President Theodore Roosevelt [5201]. He also introduced de László to the Honourable James Lowther, who recommended him for the commission to paint the present picture for the Courts of Carlisle.

In December 1907 de László travelled to Hutton John, Lowther’s home near Penrith, where he painted a study portrait [12462], now in the collection of The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, London [12462]. The present picture and a preparatory oil study [13338] were not made until Lowther sat to the artist in his London studio in late May and early June 1908.  

Lowther’s autobiography A Speaker’s Commentaries was published in 1925 and a contemporary review described the sittings: “What with having to wear wig and gown, and sit often and long, the victim got bored, and arranged that his butler should sit and represent him for the hands and gown, and other unfinished parts of the picture. Our author observes, ‘I was much amused later, when the picture was duly presented to me, and by me to the county, to read in the criticism of one of the papers that M. Laszlo was evidently a great artist, for not only was the face an admirable portrait of the Speaker, but the artist had revealed in his treatment of the hands the thorough grasp which he had achieved of the character of his sitter.”^[1]

The sitter’s wife and two of their children, Mildred and Arthur, also signed the artist’s Sitters’ Book in December 1907, directly beneath the signature of Arthur Lee, but there are no recorded paintings of these members of the Lowther family. De László painted the sitter’s brother Sir Gerard Lowther in 1915 [13370] and a pendant portrait of his wife Lady Lowther, in 1921 [9143]. He also painted Lady Lowther’s sister Mrs William Payne Thompson in 1916.

James William Lowther was born 1 April 1855 at 56 Park Street, London, the son of William Lowther (1821–1912), a diplomatist and MP, and his wife, Charlotte Alice (d. 1908), daughter of Sir James Parke, later Lord Wensleydale. His father served with the diplomatic corps in Germany and Lowther was a childhood playmate of the German Emperor Wilhelm II [4952]. They met again at Windsor in 1908 during the Kaiser’s visit to England.

Lowther was educated at Eton College 1868–70, King's College, London, and Trinity College, Cambridge 1874–8, where he gained a degree in law. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1879, and took the degree of Master of Law at Cambridge in 1882. He turned to politics and in September 1883 was elected as conservative member for Rutland. In 1885 he stood unsuccessfully for Cumberland (Penrith), near the family estate, but won it the next year and held the seat for the rest of his time in the Commons.

On 1 March 1886 he married Mary Frances, daughter of Alexander James Beresford-Hope and his wife, Mildred, who was daughter of J. B. W. Gascoyne-Cecil and niece of Robert, third Marquess of Salisbury, the Conservative prime minister. There were three children of the marriage: Christopher (born 1887), Arthur (born 1888) and Mildred (born 1890).

Lowther was sworn to the Privy Council in 1898 and appointed Speaker of the House of Commons 8 June 1905. He was highly regarded in the role and managed to maintain good relations on both sides of the house during a number of crises. The Prime Minister, Asquith, said of him that he ‘combined deep and accurate knowledge, quick judgment, dignity, urbanity, and tact with a keen insight into human nature, and an unfailing dexterity in the employment of the lighter as well of the heavier weapons in the dialectical armoury.’^[2]

During the First World War, Lowther chaired a speaker's conference on electoral reform. It proposed sweeping changes that included: adult male suffrage, proportional representation in some seats, new registration procedures to increase the size of the electorate and votes for many women over thirty. A number of the proposals were enacted in 1918.

In 1921 he retired as Speaker, was created Viscount Ullswater and appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. He remained active in local and national politics, served as a county alderman for East Suffolk and on other bodies and royal commissions: London Government 1921–2, Political Honours 1923–4, Electoral Reform 1929–30, Agricultural Wages 1930–40, and the BBC 1935. He was a trustee of the National Gallery from 1924 and of the British Museum from 1922 to 1931.

Lady Lowther died 1 May 1944, having been predeceased by their son Christopher in 1935. His grandson John, secretary to the Duke of Kent [5931], was killed in a flying accident with the duke in 1942. Lowther died 27 March 1949 at his home, High House, Campsey Ashe, near Woodbridge, Suffolk.

PROVENANCE:

Commissioned for the Grand Jury Room of the Courts in Carlisle

LITERATURE:

•The Graphic, 26 September 1908, p. 366, ill.

•Schleínítz, O. von, Künstler Monographien, Vol. 106: Ph. A. von László, Bielefeld & Leipzig, 1913, p. 106

•Ullswater, James William Lowther, Viscount, A Speaker’s Commentaries, 1925, p. 52

•Rutter, Owen, Portrait of a Painter, 1939, p. 247

•Hart-Davis, Duff, in collaboration with Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, De László: His Life and Art, Yale University Press, 2010, p. 114, ill. 141

•Hart-Davis, Duff, László Fülöp élete és festészete [Philip de László's Life and Painting], Corvina, Budapest, 2019, ill. 175

•Field, Katherine ed., Transcribed by Susan de Laszlo, The Diaries of Lucy de László Volume I: (1890-1913), de Laszlo Archive Trust, 2019, p. 137, ill. p. 109

•László, Lucy de, 1902-1911 diary, private collection, 31 December 1907 entry, p. 137

•László, Lucy de, 1908 diary, private collection, 7 May, p. 152; 21 May, p. 166; 28 May, p. 173; 4 June, p. 180

•DLA113-0067, press cutting, “Literature and Life, A Booklover’s Corner,” Evening Journal, Ottawa, Canada, 29 May 1925

KF 2020