拍品專文
The present work was conceived at the height of the Second World War and depicts the sitter in his celebrated 'siren' suit working at his papers. Churchill had been Prime Minister since May 1940. Strikingly informal, and in contrast to the ceremonial portraits of the day, it is one of several versions, all differing slightly in detail, that Salisbury executed between 1942 and 1943. Another version of this portrait, now at Chartwell, and dated 1942, is almost certaintly the first of this composition that Salisbury painted and is described in the artist's autobiography: 'the second portrait that I painted was symbolic. It shows the Prime Minister in his siren suit, habitually immersed in the vital administration of worldwide strategy and the balancing of conflicting elements, as an example of actual toil and physical effort. The portrait was shown at the Jubilee Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters at the Royal Academy in the autumn of 1942. The Devonshire Club wished to secure it, but when they learned that Mrs Churchill liked it and pronounced it an exact likeness of her husband in those tremendous days, they decided to present it to the Prime Minister. Accordingly, on June 28, 1943 he was entertained at the Club, where Mr Ormond A. Blythe, the Chairman, personally made the presentation ... On receiving the gift, Mr Churchill declared that the portrait would be a treasured heirloom in his family.'
Another version of the portrait, dated 1943, was presented to Harrow School, where Churchill had been a pupil, and still hangs in the Speech Room. A very similar composition to the Chartwell picture, it differs only in minor details, such as the design of the chair.
The present work was commissioned by Duncan Sandys, who was married to Churchill's daughter, Diana, and who at that time was Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply and Chairman of the Cabinet Committee for Defence against German V-Weapons. He was well acquainted with Salisbury, and was thus ideally placed to ask the artist to repeat one of his most successful compositions. It hung in the family house in Vincent Square, apart from a period during the early 1960s, when it was lent to the Cabinet Office at 10 Downing Street.
The 'siren' suit was made by the well known gentleman's outfitters, Austin Reed of Regent Street, to Churchill's own design. The name 'siren' suit was his own, as he originally intended to wear it when the siren sounded for an air raid but took to wearing it regularly during the war, particularly in the Cabinet War Room, under Horse Guards Parade.
Another version of the portrait, dated 1943, was presented to Harrow School, where Churchill had been a pupil, and still hangs in the Speech Room. A very similar composition to the Chartwell picture, it differs only in minor details, such as the design of the chair.
The present work was commissioned by Duncan Sandys, who was married to Churchill's daughter, Diana, and who at that time was Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply and Chairman of the Cabinet Committee for Defence against German V-Weapons. He was well acquainted with Salisbury, and was thus ideally placed to ask the artist to repeat one of his most successful compositions. It hung in the family house in Vincent Square, apart from a period during the early 1960s, when it was lent to the Cabinet Office at 10 Downing Street.
The 'siren' suit was made by the well known gentleman's outfitters, Austin Reed of Regent Street, to Churchill's own design. The name 'siren' suit was his own, as he originally intended to wear it when the siren sounded for an air raid but took to wearing it regularly during the war, particularly in the Cabinet War Room, under Horse Guards Parade.