6396

Robert Finnie McEwen 1925

Half-length in three-quarter profile to the right, wearing a dark suit and wing collar and holding his spectacles in his left hand

Oil on canvas, 90.2 x 69.9 cm (35 ½ x 27 ½ in.)

Inscribed lower left: de László / 1925 III   

Laib L14409 (433) / C17 (28):  Finn McEwen [sic]

Sitters’ Book II, f. 44: Robert Finnie McEwen 27 March 1925

Private Collection

Robert Finnie McEwen originally approached John Singer Sargent to paint his portrait, but was rejected. He subsequently and successfully commissioned Lavery in 1907. From 1912, he commissioned de László to paint his immediate family, starting with his mother-in-law, the Honourable Mrs Dundas [4966]. The present portrait of Robert Finnie McEwen was painted more than ten years after de László made the portrait of his wife, née Mary Dundas [6398]. In 1915, de László had also painted his two sons, John [6414] and James [6407], and in 1916, he had made a portrait drawing of his daughter Katharine [10052]. The McEwen family portraits perfectly exemplify the range of de László’s art, from the three-quarter length regal portrait of Mary, painted in great detail, to the war paintings of their sons in uniform, and to the soberness of the present portrait, which focuses on the character of the public man.

Robert Finnie McEwen was born in 1861, the son of the Reverend John McEwen and his wife Isabella Finnie. John was the Church of Scotland Minister for the parish of Kirkmichael, Ayrshire, for thirty-one years, until his death in 1866. In 1893, he married Mary Frances Dundas. They had two sons, John Helias Finnie (born 1894), later Sir John, who became a Member of Parliament, and James Robert Dundas (born 1896), who was killed in action in France in 1916. They also had two daughters, Elizabeth Mary, who was killed in a riding accident aged eleven and Katharine (born 1900). Robert Finnie McEwen, known as Dada (pronounced ‘Dayder’) by his children, became the first wealthy member of the family, as the beneficiary of the estates of three bachelor uncles. A millionaire at the age of forty-four, he set about establishing a dynasty with taste and panache. He built Bardrochat on land inherited from his uncle James near Colmonell in Ayrshire and frequented by his ancestors since they ‘emerged from the highlands’ in the 17th century. The first house was commissioned from George Watson. It was extended in 1909 by Robert Lorimer, the most fashionable Scottish architect of the time. Robert Finnie McEwen purchased Marchmont in 1913, a fine 18th century mansion in Berwickshire for his eldest son, which Lorimer then renovated and redesigned.^[1] The additions included a magnificent music-room-cum-ballroom complete with one of the finest organs in Scotland. Later Lorimer generously admitted the extent of Robert Finnie McEwen’s architectural contributions to these projects, especially with regard to Marchmont, one of the most important conversions of his career.

Robert Finnie McEwen was called to the Scottish Bar in 1888, but his great passion in life was music. He was a member of the Council of the Royal College of Music from 1906 until his death twenty years later. He preferred to be a patron rather than a professional performer and composer, but was well respected by his peers, particularly as a concert pianist. His closest friend was the tenor Gervase Elwes, one of Elgar’s foremost interpreters. In 1901, Robert Finnie McEwen founded and chaired the Nelson Hall concerts in Edinburgh – a series of free recitals for the benefit and instruction of ordinary people. They were a popular success and his endowment ensured they continued after his death. He also created one of the finest parish choirs in Scotland, at Colmonell. As a patron Robert Finnie McEwen was most closely associated with C.V. Stanford, whom he helped financially throughout a long career. He was also a host to many leading musicians, including Vaughan Williams and Adrian Boult. He was a favourite accompanist of Elwes and he published church music, songs and part songs. His most admired work was his setting for Walter Scott’s poem “Proud Maisie”. John Finnie McEwen died in 1926.

PROVENANCE:          

Commissioned by the sitter to hang with the other de László family portraits in the dining room at Marchmont, Berwickshire

We are grateful to John McEwen for his assistance with this biography.

CC 2008