Overall: 58cm (23in) x 48cm (19in)
Provenance:
Eric Kennington RA (1888-1960)
Thence to the artist’s nephew
Ian Duncan Struthers (1915-1994)
No. 8 of the edition of 100 collotypes of the pastel portrait of Lawrence of Arabia known as the ‘Ghost Portrait’ by Eric Kennington RA. Published by the Oxford University Press, circa 1935. Authenticated by Kennington’s autograph signature on the certificate laid down on the verso. Complete with original glazed and stepped frame (cf Example no. 70/100 at Thomas Hardy’s Dorchester home, Max Gate).
In late 1920, shortly before Lawrence left London for the Middle East on one of many missions as a special adviser to the new Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill, Kennington was commissioned to produce a portrait in pastel. Soon after Lawrence’s departure, however, Kennington became dissatisfied with his composition, taking a particular dislike to the heaviness and force of the treatment. To remedy this, Kennington laid the portrait on the floor, placed paper over it and walked on it. When he removed the top paper, he found a toned down version of the portrait, and a faint reverse copy, the ‘ghost portrait’, imprinted on the covering sheet. Kennington placed the reverse portrait in a drawer and promptly forgotten for the next fourteen years.
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After Lawrence’s death, in 1935, Kennington rediscovered the forgotten reverse drawing and was struck by its ethereal nature, spiritual vitality and the stigmata-like wounds on the forehead which had been absent from the original. The accidental portrait was purchased by Arab Revolt veteran Colonel Robert Vere Buxton and presented to All Souls College, Oxford, where it still hangs. The colonial administrator and Fellow of All Souls Lionel Curtis (1872-1955) commissioned a private edition of 100 copies the ‘ghost portrait’ from the University Press, of which the present example is one. Other examples are to be found in the Tank Museum at Bovington, and at Max Gate, the National Trust property that was Thomas Hardy’s Dorchester home.