Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham
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Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham
by James McBey
Oil on canvas, 1934
50 1/4 in. x 39 in. (1275 mm x 990 mm) overall
NPG 4626
This portraitback to top
The origins of this commission are unknown, but as the unstretched canvas was still with James McBey’s widow in 1968 it is likely that, as was often the case with portraits of Graham, the proposal originated with the artist. A connecting link and possible point of introduction was the Corbett family, who were patrons of McBey between 1926 and 1951.[1] NPG 4626 and McBey’s portrait of Thomas Corbett, 2nd Baron Rowallan were exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1935 (nos 172 and 396).
A remarkable printmaker, James McBey turned to oil painting in the 1930s, when the market for artist etchings was in relative decline.[2] During this period he experimented with simplified, decorative patterns and the expressive use of colour, in both landscapes and portraiture. Such stylization is not a feature of NPG 4626 but the use of colour to convey personality – here the distinctive blue suit – is typical of his methods.
Sittings were planned for April 1934 but delayed due to Graham’s ill health and a stay in Scotland. A reference in the McBey Papers records a sitting at the end of May.[3] NPG 4626 is among the finest of the late portraits of Graham. The elevated position of the sitter and the triangular composition are suggestive of an equestrian portrait; and the figure exudes patrician elegance. Graham was gratified by the picture’s success at the RA the following spring and wrote to McBey: ‘The picture looked splendid in the Academy this afternoon and was much admired. Being hung rather high shows it off.’[4]
Even in his eighties, Graham continued to look after his image. ‘People who did not know him well, often mistook his delightful and almost child-like vanity for pride,’ wrote Graham’s biographer Tschiffely. ‘He could not pass a mirror without looking at himself. [...] He never cared an atom if people watched him pass his fingers through his abundant crop of white hair and spread it out like an aureole.’[5]
McBey’s widow Marguerite (1905–99), also an artist, offered the portrait to the Gallery in October 1968. She recalled: ‘[CG] sat for it in the studio of 1 Holland Park Avenue in 1934 and the portrait was exhibited at the Royal Academy that same year, I believe. It is an excellent likeness and Cunninghame Graham was very pleased with it. One of the critics wrote that it was the best portrait of the year.’[6]
The portrait arrived as a rolled-up canvas. After acceptance by the Trustees it was tacked on to a board for storage and later transferred to a temporary stretcher. In 1990 the portrait was conserved, restretched and given a solid oak frame.[7] For the next ten years it was displayed in the McBey Room, Aberdeen Art Gallery, on long-term loan from the Gallery.
Carol Blackett-Ord
Footnotesback to top
1) Cameron Corbett (1856–1933), first Lord Rowallan, was a contemporary of Graham’s, and like him a Scottish Liberal MP in the 1880s. See Rowallan sale, Phillips Scotland, 27–28 Nov. 1989 (catalogue introduction).
2) Melville 2001, p.30.
3) Letters from R.B.C. Graham to J. McBey, 9, 13 and 29 Apr. 1934 and 22 May 1934, McBey Papers, Aberdeen AG Archive.
4) Letter from R.B.C. Graham to J. McBey, 3 May 1935, McBey Papers, Aberdeen AG Archive. Details and part-transcription provided in email from Ann Steed, Aberdeen AG, 29 May 2010.
5) Tschiffely 1937, p.419.
6) Letter from M. McBey to R. Strong, 2 Oct. 1968, NPG RP 4626. The portrait was exhibited in 1935.
7) See conservation record, NPG RP 4626.
Physical descriptionback to top
Three-quarter-length, looking to left, seated, legs crossed, wearing a blue suit, holding a hat in left hand, gloves and cane in right hand.
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