Sir William Turner Walton
(1902-1983), ComposerSitter in 26 portraits
During a sixty-year career, Walton composed music in various styles and genres, including symphonies, concertos, ballet music, opera and film scores. Influenced by jazz and the music of Stravinsky, he collaborated with Edith Sitwell on Façade - An Entertainment (1922), a musical accompaniment to her poems. His later works, notably Belshazzar's Feast (1931), three concertos and two symphonies, show the evolution of a personal style combining modernist elements with traditional forms. Walton met Edith's brother Sacheverell at Oxford University in 1918 and was part of the Sitwell household from 1919 to 1933. The family provided him with patronage and encouragement. He was knighted in 1951.
Watch a film clip on the sitter from the BBC Archive in the Media section below
by Maurice Lambert
bronze head, circa 1925
On display in Room 31 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG 5913
by Rex Whistler
pencil, 1929
NPG 4640
by Michael Ayrton
oil on canvas, 1948
NPG 5138
by Arnold Newman
bromide print, 1978
NPG P150(37)
by Lord Snowdon
vintage bromide print, 7 April 1980
NPG P844
by Cecil Beaton
bromide print, October 1927
NPG x40409
by Howard Coster
10 x 8 inch film negative, 1935
NPG x14661
by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate film negative, 3 April 1937
NPG x81194
by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate film negative, 3 April 1937
NPG x81195
by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate film negative, 3 April 1937
NPG x81196
by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate film negative, 3 April 1937
NPG x81197
by Cecil Beaton
bromide print on white card mount, 1940s
NPG x14232
by Elliott & Fry
bromide print, 1951
NPG x91673
Edith Sitwell; Sir William Turner Walton; Susana Gil (née Passo), Lady Walton
by Fox Photos Ltd
vintage print, July 1953
NPG x194188
by Derek Allen
bromide print, 1954
NPG x32799
by London Express News and Feature Services
bromide press print, 9 October 1962
NPG x199008
by Baron (Sterling Henry Nahum)
bromide print
NPG x27250
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