T.S. Eliot
3 of 68 portraits of T.S. Eliot







© National Portrait Gallery, London
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T.S. Eliot
by John Gay
vintage print, 1948
10 7/8 x 9 5/8 in. (276 x 244 mm)
Given by Max Macdonald Hastings, 1997
Primary Collection
NPG P702
Artistback to top
- John Gay (1909-1999), Photographer. Artist of 295 portraits, Sitter in 5 portraits.
This portraitback to top
In a letter written in 1930 Eliot explained that his unwillingness to have portrait taken was partly because it 'consumes so much time and has therefore led to unsatisfactory results.' Later that year, in a response to another request to paint him, he commented that there was nothing 'more painful, except inspecting the consequences.' It is probable that Eliot preferred photographic portraits because of the relative speed of the process. This portrait was taken for The Strand Magazine, July 1948 for an article on 'The English Poets' and shows Eliot in the Faber & Faber offices after he received his Order of Merit.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 199
Placesback to top
- Place made and portrayed: United Kingdom: England, London (Faber & Faber offices, London)
Events of 1948back to top
Current affairs
Prince Charles is born in Buckingham Palace; he is the first son of Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of EdinburghThe Secretary of State for Health, Aneurin Bevan, introduces the National Health Service. Health services in Britain were now funded from central taxation and free at the point of use for every resident of the country.
Art and science
The First Morris Minor car designed by Alec Issigonis and his team (also responsible for the Mini) takes to the road, becoming a popular and classic English design.F.R. Leavis publishes his influential study of the English novel, The Great Tradition. The book set out Leavis's ideas on the proper relationship between literary form and moral concern.
International
The policy of Apartheid is adopted in South Africa. Apartheid was a set of laws allowing racial segregation and discrimination against the black majority by the white ruling class.As part of the dispute between Western and Soviet controlled Berlin, the Soviet Union blockades West Berlin, cutting off supplies. Anxious to avoid a conflict, America, Britain and France responded by flying in food and other provisions.
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Related pages
- Bloomsbury and Beyond
- Reviewers Revealed: Celebrating the TLS Centenary
- Case study: Dame A.S. Byatt
- Only Connect
- Only Connect - T.S. Eliot <> Herbert Wells
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- Only Connect - T.S. Eliot <> Ludwig van Beethoven
- Only Connect - T.S. Eliot <> Sir Michael Tippett
- Only Connect - T.S. Eliot <> Barbara Hepworth
- Only Connect - installation video
- Reviewers Revealed: Celebrating the TLS Centenary
- John Gay - Portraits in print
- Checklist of John Gay photographs
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