Herbert Read

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Herbert Read

by Patrick Heron
oil on canvas, 1950
30 in. x 25 in. (762 mm x 635 mm)
Given by Dame Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, 1968
Primary Collection
NPG 4654

Sitterback to top

  • Sir Herbert Read (1893-1968), Critic, poet and writer on art. Sitter in 17 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Patrick Heron (1920-1999), Painter and art critic. Artist or producer of 5 portraits, Sitter in 14 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Heron described the Read 'waving his beautifully elegant poet's hand ever so gently in the air in front of him', the head wobbling from side to side as he talked, 'to give added emphasis'. He saw the hyacinth blues and greens as expressive of the quality of innocence in the sitter.

Linked publicationsback to top

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 1950back to top

Current affairs

Princess Anne is born at Clarence house, the only daughter of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip.

Art and science

C.S. Lewis publishes The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Lewis was an Oxford Don, specialising in Medieval Literature and its use of allegory. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is often seen as an allegory of the Christian struggle between good and evil.

International

Following the Soviet and American withdrawal from the occupation of North and South Korea respectively, the Korean War breaks out as each side seeks to unify Korea under its own political system. While the U.S.A., U.K and other UN nations came to the defence of South Korea, North Korea had support from the Soviet Union and China. The war continued until 1953.

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