7773

REJECTED

Study portrait

Sir John Wormald  1922

Half-length to the right, three-quarter face and looking towards the right, wearing a dark suit, wing collar and black tie, all against a brown background

Oil on canvas, 81 x 56 cm (32 x 22 in.)

Inscribed lower right: Study / 1922 / XII / Philip de         László  

Sitters' Book II, f. 32: John Wormald 7th. Dec. 1922

According to the sitter’s descendants, Sir John, dissatisfied with the way that he had been portrayed, rejected the present portrait. De László subsequently offered to paint a portrait of the sitter's daughter-in-law, Amey Horsey, with her own daughter, Patricia, without charge. Amey was married to the sitter’s only son, Leslie Graham Wormald, and it seems the artist much admired her beauty.

However Sir John refused this offer and insisted that he be painted again, and de László’s second attempt certainly satisfied him [7771]

For biographical notes on the sitter, see [7771].

CC 2008