11354

Sir Walter Beaupré Townley 1911

Standing full length, slightly to the left with head turned to the right, wearing court dress, his right arm resting on the plinth of a pillar, holding his gloves in that hand

Oil on canvas, 233 x 121.9 cm (91 ¾ x 48 in.)

Inscribed upper left: P.A. László 1911 July

NPG Album 1913-15, f. 62

Sitters’ Book I, f. 85: Walter Townley July 28. 1911.

Government Art Collection

This portrait was commissioned and presented to the sitter and his wife by the British Community of Buenos Aires in 1911. Lucy de László recorded in her diary that the fee for the picture was £600.^[1] De László painted a study portrait of the sitter's wife, Lady Susan, in September 1911 [7360] while they were staying with Lady Wantage at Lockinge in Berkshire, which they visited quite frequently between 1909 and 1911.

The pose used by the artist is a direct reference to the grand manner portraits of Van Dyck, Reynolds, and Gainsborough. The column was also frequently used by de László’s contemporary, John Singer Sargent, in his portraits of the early 1900s. Full-lengths were relatively rare in de László’s work at this time, however, he completed a similar portrait of Lord Selbourne [6965] just prior to starting the present portrait.

Walter Beaupré Townley was born at Fulbourn Manor, Cambridge, on 8 January 1863, the fourth son of Charles Watson Townley (1824-1893), the late Lord Lieutenant of Cambridge, and Georgiana Dalison (1830-1919). He was educated at Eton and nominated as diplomatic attaché in 1885, being appointed to Paris the following year. In 1887 he was promoted to third Secretary and in 1889 was transferred to Teheran. He returned to Paris in 1892, as second Secretary. Two years later he was transferred to Bucharest where he acted as Chargé d’Affaires.

In 1896 the sitter married Lady Susan Mary Keppel (1868-1953), fifth daughter of William Coutts Keppel (1832-1894), seventh Earl of Albermarle, and Sophia Mary (1832-1917), second daughter of the Hon. Sir Allan Napier McNab, first Baronet and Prime Minister of Canada. His long career with the Diplomatic Service was restless, rarely being posted for more than two years in any one place. In 1897 he was transferred to Lisbon, to Berlin in 1898 and to Rome in 1900. Townley became Secretary of the Legation at Peking in 1901 and acted as Chargé d’Affaires between 1902 and 1903, before being transferred to Constantinople, where he remained until 1905. He was promoted to Envoy Extraordinary and was Minister Plenipotentiary to the Argentine Republic and Republic of Paraguay from 1906 to 1910. Townley was sent to Bucharest in 1911 and made a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG) in honour of his extraordinary service in foreign countries. Before going to Bucharest, the couple stayed at Lockinge for almost six weeks. They both signed the visitors’ book just below de László’s signature and Lady Susan wrote beside their names: In the “Betterton / Annexe”, en route / from Buenos Aires / to Bucharest! / Aug 3 to Sep 16th [1911].

In 1915 he returned to England before accepting the last posting of his career as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Queen of the Netherlands at The Hague 1917-1919.

The sitter died in London on 5 April 1945.

PROVENANCE:

Presented to the sitter by the British Community of Buenos Aires in 1911;

Robinson & Foster (thought to be art dealers);

From whom purchased by the British Government, 21 September 1950

LITERATURE:

•Field, Katherine ed., Transcribed by Susan de Laszlo, The Diaries of Lucy de László Volume I: (1890-1913), de Laszlo Archive Trust, 2019, p. 188

•László, Lucy de, 1910 diary, private collection

•László, Lucy de, 1911 diary, private collection

KF 2014