Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
(1848-1930), Prime Minister and philosopher20th Century Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 140 portraits
Born at Whittingehame House, East Lothian and educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge; Balfour first made his mark as a philosopher, publishing A Defence of Philosophic Doubt in 1879; he entered politics in 1874 through the patronage of his uncle, Lord Salisbury, as a Conservative member for Hertford; succeeded Salisbury as Prime Minister in 1902 but was unable to keep together a party divided by issues of Free Trade and Protectionism and resigned in 1905; during the First World War he worked as First Lord of the Admiralty and, from 1916 to 1919, as Foreign Secretary; Balfour continued in politics until the age of eighty, having served for twenty-seven years as a member of the cabinet.
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
by Eveleen Myers (née Tennant)
platinum print, early 1890s
NPG Ax68779
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
by Alexander Bassano
12 x 10 inch glass plate negative, circa 1900
NPG x95736
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
by Alexander Bassano
12 x 10 inch glass plate negative, circa 1900
NPG x95737
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
by Alexander Bassano
half-plate glass negative, 1900?
NPG x96264
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
by George Charles Beresford
dry-plate glass negative, 1902
NPG x6430
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
by H. Walter Barnett
half-plate glass negative, 1903
NPG x76141
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
by H. Walter Barnett
whole-plate glass negative, 1903
NPG x81440
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
by H. Walter Barnett
glass negative, November 1903
NPG x81445
John Baring, 2nd Baron Revelstoke; J.P.L. Reid; Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
by Unknown photographer
bromide print, 1 October 1910
NPG x13452
'Silver Wedding Presentation to the Speaker and Mrs Lowther'
by Benjamin Stone
platinum print, 3 May 1911
NPG x135697
'"Silver Wedding" Presentation to the Speaker and Mrs Lowther from the House of Commons'
by Benjamin Stone
platinum print, 3 May 1911
NPG x135698
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
halftone reproduction, circa 1913
NPG x183
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
by Vandyk
glass negative, 10 August 1916
NPG x29045
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
by Unknown photographer
platinum print
NPG Ax38789
by Sir Leslie Ward, and Carlo Pellegrini, and 'Hay', and Théobald Chartran ('T'), and Liborio Prosperi ('Lib')
chromolithographs pasted onto wooden panel, assembled from prints published 1881-1889
NPG D39292
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour
by Minnie Lee Everett (M. Cormack), printed by Thomas Ross & Son, published by Paul and Dominic Colnaghi & Co, after Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
mezzotint, published 25 May 1892
NPG D49666
Related People
- Gerald William Balfour, 2nd Earl of Balfour (brother)
- Eustace James Balfour (brother)
- Lady Evelyn ('Eve') Barbara Balfour (niece)
- Eleanor ('Nora') Mildred Sidgwick (née Balfour) (sister)
Comments back to top
We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.
If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.