Character sketches: drawings by Fred Roe, 1900-27 (volume 1)
129 Portraits in set
The artist Fred Roe (1864-1947) assembled two albums of 'Character sketches' between 1900 and 1945, containing portraits of Roe's friends, colleagues and acquaintances. Many of these are drawn in pencil on menu cards and table plans and other ephemera, giving us a vivid sense of the portraits' context. A number of portraits were signed, not only by Roe, but also by the sitter. As well as portraits sketched at social events, a substantial number of portraits and comic sketches were made during committee meetings for the Artists' General Benevolent Institution and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours. The albums therefore depict the social and professional circles of a London artist in London in the first half of the twentieth century. Roe used the albums as a filing system, allowing him to retrieve sketches and have them reproduced in publications, sometimes alongside the sitter's obituary. He annotated the album pages with the sitter's biographical information, and in one case, even jotted down the sitter's birthday. The albums were extensively annotated by Roe's son, the art historian F. Gordon Roe; they were generously donated to the NPG by his daughter, the artist (Eleanor) Frances Gordon Maynard (née Roe).
by Fred Roe
pen, circa 1886
NPG D43066
Thomas Benjamin Kennington ('T B Kennington on board the Channel Boat')
by Fred Roe
pencil, 11 April 1895
NPG D43095
Guide lecturing tourists in Rome (Seven unknown sitters)
by Fred Roe
pencil, 1900
NPG D43061
Guide lecturing tourists in Rome (Four unknown sitters)
by Fred Roe
pencil, 1900
NPG D43062
James Frank Sullivan ('Jassef')
by Fred Roe
pencil, 1900-1936
NPG D43103
Tourists at Tivoli, Rome (Two unknown sitters)
by Fred Roe
pencil, 7 May 1900
NPG D43106
Thomas Blinks ('Tommy Blinks')
by Fred Roe
pencil, 1900-1912
NPG D43108
by Fred Roe
pencil, 1900-1916
NPG D43115
(Richard) Phené Spiers and an unknown man
by Fred Roe
pencil, 1900-1916
NPG D43116
'Edward Bundy on Varnishing Day'
by Fred Roe
pencil, 1900-1920
NPG D43137
Edward Bundy on Varnishing Day
by Fred Roe
pencil, 1900-1920
NPG D43138
Comic sketch: 'Mr Praise the Lord Scroggins' (Unknown Sitter)
by Fred Roe
pencil, 1901-1910
NPG D43071
'Fishwife, Boulogne' (Unknown woman)
by Fred Roe
pencil, 22 May 1901
NPG D43084
'Fine Taille, Boulogne' (Unknown woman)
by Fred Roe
pencil, 22 May 1901
NPG D43088
'Creuze, Boulogne Fish Market' (Unknown fisherman)
by Fred Roe
pencil, May 1901
NPG D43089
'M l'Abbé on Train from St Denis' (Unknown sitter)
by Fred Roe
pencil, 18 May 1901
NPG D43090
'Fisherfolk: Boulogne' (Unknown sitters)
by Fred Roe
pencil, 1901
NPG D43105
'The Girl in Black': Fontainebleau Concert (Unknown Woman)
by Fred Roe
pencil, 22 September 1902
NPG D43069
Unknown child on the beach at Hunstanton
by Fred Roe
pencil, August 1903
NPG D43070
Comic sketch. 'HIC!' (Unknown Sitter)
by Fred Roe
pencil, August 1903
NPG D43073
Unknown girl paddling in the sea at Hunstanton
by Fred Roe
pencil, 28 August 1903
NPG D43083
Two unknown children on a beach
by Fred Roe
pencil, 21 August 1903
NPG D43085
by Fred Roe
pencil, 1905-1920
NPG D43127
'Old Lady in Tram from Bon Secours' (Unknown woman)
by Fred Roe
pencil, 19 May 1907
NPG D43087
George Henry ('George Henry ARA responding to a toast')
by Fred Roe
pencil, 4 May 1908
NPG D43063
''The Lady who was self-conscious about her legs! Chelsea Arts Ball 1908' (Unknown woman)
by Fred Roe
pen, 20 July 1908
NPG D43072
by Fred Roe
pen and ink, 26 December 1908
NPG D43074
Rutland Barrington as Sir Despard Murgatroyd in Ruddigore
by Fred Roe
pen and ink, 27 December 1908
NPG D43075
George Grossmith (George Grossmith as Robin Oakapple in Ruddigore 1887)
by Fred Roe
pen, 27 December 1908
NPG D43076
Rosina Brandram (neé Moult) (Rosina Brandram as Dame Hannah in Ruddigore 1887)
by Fred Roe
pen, 29 December 1908
NPG D43077
Durward Lely (James Durward Lyall) ('Durward Lely as Dick Dauntless in Ruddigore 1887')
by Fred Roe
pen and ink, 27 December 1908
NPG D43078
'Ghost of Sir Rupert Murgatroyd in Ruddigore 1887' (Unknown singer)
by Fred Roe
pen and ink, 1908
NPG D43080
'Gentleman seen in the train - Charing Cross to Gloucester Road' (Unknown man)
by Fred Roe
pencil, 3 April 1908
NPG D43082
Unknown male singer, Brittania Pier, Great Yarmouth
by Fred Roe
pencil, 7 August 1908
NPG D43086
Alfred Drury ('Alfred Drury ARA singing at Royal Academy Club')
by Fred Roe
pencil, 3 May 1909
NPG D43065
by Fred Roe
pencil, 2 May 1910
NPG D43067
Henry Hodsoll Heath ('Mr Deputy Heath')
by Fred Roe
pencil, 2 December 1910
NPG D43093
Comic sketch: 'She wanted to be a fairy' (Unknown sitter)
by Fred Roe
pen and ink, 9 January 1911
NPG D43094
Marcus Clayton Stone ('Mr Marcus Stone R.A. Whitebait Dinner May 1 1911')
by Fred Roe
pencil, 1 May 1911
NPG D43097
Dame Clara Ellen Butt singing at the Festival of Empire, 1911
by Fred Roe
pencil, 12 May 1911
NPG D43099b
by Fred Roe
pencil, 12 May 1911
NPG D43099a
by Fred Roe
pencil, 2 December 1912
NPG D43092
by Fred Roe
pencil, 9 May 1912
NPG D43091
Unknown man at the Royal Academy Club
by Fred Roe
pencil, 6 May 1912
NPG D43098
Unknown man at funeral of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
by Fred Roe
pencil, 5 July 1912
NPG D43100
Sir Augustus Charles Frederick FitzGeorge ('Colonel FitzGeorge')
by Fred Roe
pencil, 8 June 1912
NPG D43104
Comic sketch: 'A Lyttel Geste' (Five unknown sitters)
by Fred Roe
pen and ink, 20 August 1912
NPG D43118
John Humphrey; (William) Henry ('Harry') Harry Pannell and an unknown woman
by Fred Roe
pencil, 6 November 1913
NPG D43101
by Fred Roe
pencil, 21 November 1913
NPG D43102
by Fred Roe
pencil, 13 October 1913
NPG D43110
Comic sketch: 'Ye Clever Fol .....' (Three unknown sitters)
by Fred Roe
pen and ink, 5 January 1913
NPG D43119
by Fred Roe
pencil, 4 May 1914
NPG D43107
by Fred Roe
pencil, 6 May 1914
NPG D43109
(Charles) Granville Kekewich; Sir Gilbert Parker, MP
by Fred Roe
pencil, 25 May 1914
NPG D43111