Lot 258
GRAHAM SUTHERLAND O.M. (BRITISH 1903-1980) §
FULL LENGTH PORTRAIT OF THE 13TH EARL OF AIRLIE
Auction: Day 1: Wednesday 20 August - Lots 1 - 296
Description
oil on canvas, bears The Tate Gallery exhibition label verso
Dimensions
120cm x 190cm, 144cm x 212cm (frame)
Provenance
Property from the Earls of Airlie
Footnote
Exhibited: London, Tate Gallery Graham Sutherland 19th May-4th July 1982, cat. no. 193
Literature: Graham Sutherland. The catalogue of a 1982 Tate Gallery exhibition. Graham Sutherland. Ronald Alley, Published by Tate Gallery, London, 1982
Note: Graham Sutherland was an important contributor to Modern British Art, recognised for his etchings influenced by the English pastoral tradition and the work of Samuel Palmer. His early prints combined emotional intensity with technical precision, exploring rural life and spirituality.
The 1982 Tate Gallery exhibition was a significant retrospective shortly following his death, covering all the main themes in his work, including portraiture. The thirteenth Earl of Airlie, elder brother of the Hon. Angus Ogilvy, sat for the work almost immediately following the completion of Sutherland’s portrait of Mrs. Reves. Marking the artist’s final completed portrait, it occupies a distinctive place within his oeuvre: apart from the portrait of Lord Bath (1970–71), which incorporates a road and trees in the background, it is the only example in which Sutherland depicts a full-length figure within a landscape setting.