Rainbow Circle
14 People in sitter grouping:
The Rainbow Circle took their name from their meeting place on Fleet Street, The Rainbow Tavern, where a group of Fabians, liberals and socialists met regularly over dinner. The different political groups had began meeting in 1893, motivated by a shared desire to advance social progress and reform. The future Labour leader (James) Ramsay MacDonald and Liberal Home Secretary Herbert Louis Samuel, wished the diners club 'to provide a rational and comprehensive view of political and social progress' that 'could be ultimately formulated in a programme of action and in that form provide a rallying point for social reformers'. These meetings were a sign of the new social liberalism which emerged from a shared dissatisfaction with the current Liberal government, whom they perceived as indifferent and ineffective. The circle had an annual theme and each meeting began with a lecture and was followed by discussion. In 1896, the meetings moved from the tavern to a member's house in Bloomsbury. Here discussions continued to inform much of the welfare and progressive ideology of the early 20th Century.

Richard Burdon Haldane, Viscount Haldane
1856-1928Statesman, lawyer and philosopher
Sitter in 40 portraits

Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel
1870-1963Home Secretary, 1st High Commissioner of Palestine and leader of the Liberal Party
Sitter in 45 portraits

John Archibald Murray Macdonald
1854-1939Politician; MP for several constituencies
Sitter in 2 portraits

Noel Edward Buxton, 1st Baron Noel-Buxton
1869-1948Politician and philanthropist
Sitter in 7 portraits

Sydney Haldane Olivier, 1st Baron Olivier
1859-1943Colonial civil servant, politician and author
Sitter in 6 portraits | Artist associated with 3 portraits

Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, 3rd Bt
1870-1958Politician; MP and President of the Board of Education
Sitter in 9 portraits