First Previous 1 OF 26 NextLast

John Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes

1 of 26 portraits of John Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes

© National Portrait Gallery, London

3 Likes voting
is closed

Thanks for Liking

Please Like other favourites!
If they inspire you please support our work.

Buy a print Buy a greetings card Make a donation Close

John Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes

by Gwen Raverat
pen and ink and watercolour, circa 1908
11 in. x 14 1/2 in. (279 mm x 368 mm)
Given by the sitter's sister, Margaret Neville Hill (née Keynes), 1967
Primary Collection
NPG 4553

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Rogers, Malcolm, Master Drawings from the National Portrait Gallery, 1993 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 August to 23 October 1994), p. 147
  • Saumarez Smith, Charles, The National Portrait Gallery: An Illustrated Guide, 2000, p. 175
  • Saumarez Smith, Charles, The National Portrait Gallery, 1997, p. 175 Read entry

    This informal drawing of Maynard Keynes is thought to show him in his mid-twenties, before he had appendicitis, after which he grew much fatter. It is by Gwen Raverat, who was born a Darwin, grew up in the house that is now Darwin College, Cambridge, and was a friend of Maynard Keynes from their childhood. Indeed, her sister Margaret married Keynes' brother Geoffrey. So this watercolour, as well as being a nicely relaxed image of the great writer on economics, is also a record of that circle of high-thinking and interbreeding families in Cambridge, whom the academic Noel Annan has decribed as an intellectual aristocracy.

  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 352
  • Spalding, Frances, The Bloomsbury Group, 2013, p. 85
  • Spalding, Frances, Insights: The Bloomsbury Group, 2005, p. 74
  • Tinker, Christopher, Speak its Name! - Quotations by and about Gay Men and Women, 2016, p. 62

Events of 1908back to top

Current affairs

Henry Asquith replaces Henry Campbell-Bannerman as Liberal leader and Prime Minister, with David Lloyd George taking control of the Exchequer. Asquith and Lloyd George embark on a bold programme of social reform, laying the foundations of the Welfare State, introducing government pensions this year and later a system of National Insurance.
The first aeroplane for the British army is built by the American, Samuel Cody.

Art and science

E.M. Forster's novel A Room with a View is published, following the experiences of a young woman, Lucy Honeychurch, in the repressed culture of Edwardian England.
The French art critic Louis Vauxcelles first uses the term 'cubism' to refer to a landscape painting by Georges Braque.

International

King Carlos of Portugal and his heir, Prince Luis Filipe, are killed by assassins from the Republican trying to provoke a revolution. Carlos I, unpopular because of his extravagant lifestyle and extramarital affairs, was succeeded by his younger son, Manuel, the last monarch of the Braganza dynasty.
Following the death of the Guangxu Emperor in China, his two year old nephew replaces him, becoming the the last Manchu emperor of China.

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.