GERALD LESLIE BROCKHURST, R.A. | Portrait of Charles Carpenter

Mr and Mrs Alan Fortunoff

London, Royal Academy, 1933, no.523;
Sheffield, Graves Art Gallery, Birmingham, City Art Gallery, London, National Portrait Gallery, A Dream of Fair Women: An Exhibition of the work of Gerald Leslie Brockhurst R.A. (1890-1978) Painter and Etcher, 1986, no.17;
London, The Fine Art Society, British Portraits, 2018, no.3

The panel appears sound and is providing good structural support. The work appears to be in very good overall condition. There are some areas of very faint craquelure, visible only on close inspection. Some rubbing and abrasion to the lower right hand corner. UV light inspection reveals some minor flecked infilling to the figure's jacket and face. There are a few minor spots of retouching in the background. Some retouching along the right and lower framing edges. Held in an ebonised black frame and gold slip.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Most typically associated with highly finished, glamorous female portraits, Gerald Leslie Brockhurst was the most sought-after portrait painter of his day. Such was his success that he was able to limit himself to twenty commissions per year, with his subjects including the Duchess of Windsor, Marlene Dietrich, Merle Oberon, J Paul Getty and Mrs Paul Mellon. Although a prodigiously talented oil painter, Brockhurst initially achieved celebrity and success as an etcher, a fact which speaks volumes to his dexterity as a draughtsman. The techniques that he honed through his work on paper proved to be hugely beneficial to his oil painting; the acuity and elegance of the textures and tones of his sitters’ faces, embroidery and silk can be credited to time spent honing these talents in monochrome etching and drawing. As a student at the Royal Academy, Brockhurst won the Gold Medal for Drawing at the age of 17. He went on to win a number of further prizes, one of which was a travel scholarship to Italy, and his exposure to Italian Renaissance art had a profound impact on his work. Brockhurst’s association with the Royal Academy was also to impact his career and life in a different  way; in 1928 he met Kathleen Woodward, referred to typically as Dorette, who swiftly went on to supersede his wife Anäis as his lover, muse and later, wife. His emotionally charged portraits of her have become among his most celebrated and had a considerable impact in developing his reputation as an oil painter.

Charles Carpenter CBE (1858-1938) was the President of the South Metropolitan Gas Company. The present work is one of the few commissioned male portraits of the period, as this period was dominated by etchings and portraits of Anäis. An etching of the painting was privately commissioned and issued in 1931.