5750

Portrait drawing

Philip Roderick Hall 1935

Head and shoulders in three-quarter profile to the left, wearing the uniform of a cadet of the Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth

Charcoal, heightened with white on paper, 75 x 54.5 cm (29 ½ x 21 ½ in.)

Inscribed lower right: to my Godson / 1935 I / de László

Laib L18978(363) / C11(31) John Hall (son)

NPG Album 1935, p. 13a Cadet Roderick Hall / R.N.

Private Collection

De László had two teeth pulled the morning that he completed this drawing of his godson on 16 January 1935. He described it in his diary and also noted that he had a reception of some three hundred guests in the studio at 3 Fitzjohn’s Avenue that same evening: “Roderick Philip – my godson [John Hall’s] son who is in the Royal navy – intelligent – capable but in manners – something objectionable… Did a drawing of him which I promised – he is 14 years old - Jean his mother came for luncheon.^[1] 

The sitter’s mother wrote to the artist soon after from her home at Charnes Hall, Staffordshire: “This is the last letter I write from this house - this house which holds so many memories of happiness - the extremes of happiness and of sorrow. And I write it to you who are my oldest friend on this side of the Atlantic to thank you for one more gracious act added to the already long list of your kindnesses to me - to thank you for the portrait of your Godson which arrived safely to-day and which will be hung at Broughton in a day or two. It is excellent and the family like it enormously. They don’t say “what a nice godson the artist has!” but “how clever the artist is!” but brothers are very hard on each other - especially on the youngest.”^[2] 

The artist painted a three-quarter length portrait of the sitter’s father John Hall in 1919 [5739] and a pendant portrait of his wife in 1923 [5747]. Three other children of the couple were painted or drawn: John in 1920 [5753], Thomas in 1922 [5755] and Joan in 1921 [5756].

Philip Roderick Hall was born 30 December 1919, at Charnes Hall, Eccleshall, the youngest of the six children of John Hall (1870-1930) and his wife Jean Isobel Nesbitt (1888-1971) of Toronto, Canada. Known as Roderick, he was educated at King’s Mead Preparatory School, Seaford, and Dartmouth Naval College.  

In the autumn of 1940, Roderick completed his first training course with the Fleet Air Arm. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and joined the HMS Daedelus training base at Lee-on-Solent in January 1941. That October he went on his second Air Arm course and joined 807 Squadron attached to HMS Argus on 16 November 1941. The ship’s main job was on convoy duty in the Mediterranean, taking supplies to troops on campaign in North Africa. He was twice shot down by friendly fire, on 18 May 1942, during an engagement off Algiers and again, fatally, on 14 June 1942, flying from HMS Argus en route to Malta during Operation Harpoon. His elder brother Thomas had been killed in January of that year on active service in Egypt. The sitter is commemorated at the Fleet Air Arm Memorial, Lee-on-Solent, Bay 3, Panel 1.

PROVENANCE:

By descent in the family

LITERATURE:

•László, Philip de, January-June 1935 diary, private collection, 16 January entry, p. 2

•DLA022-0328, letter from Mrs John Hall to de László, 5 February 1935  

KF 2018