Study for the portrait of Harry Ricardo
Date
ca. 1955
Sitter
Harry Ralph Ricardo (1885 - 1974, British) , Mechanical engineer
Creator
Allan Gwynne-Jones (1892 - 1982, British) , Painter
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Dimensions
height (drawing): 400mm
width (drawing): 305mm
width (drawing): 305mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Half length portrait showing Ricardo gazing slightly to the viewer’s left. The sitter wears spectacles and is dressed in a jacket, waistcoat (or cardigan) and tie. The sketch is annotated by the artist as a working drawing with various short aide memoires.
Sir Harry Ricardo was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1929.
Sir Harry Ricardo was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1929.
Transcription
‘Cambridge 13 Dec 62 [?] 7.30pm’
‘Study for the portrait of Sir Henry [sic] Ricardo by Allan Gwynne-Jones. Bought from the artist, 9 January 1971’.
‘Study for the portrait of Sir Henry [sic] Ricardo by Allan Gwynne-Jones. Bought from the artist, 9 January 1971’.
Object history
Presented by Marianne Ford, in memory of Sir Brinsley Ford (1908-1999).
Purchased from the artist by Sir (Richard) Brinsley Ford, 9 January 1971 (his ref: 530/29/14a). Brinsley Ford’s personal account reads: ‘Three of these studies are done on the backs of large brown envelopes, those of Lord Florey and Sir Harry Ricardo on the backs of enveloped addressed to A.G-J. when he was on the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board. But he told me that even if the postage marks were legible, they would be no guide to the dates when the portraits were painted as he was in the habit of accumulating these envelopes for future use! I asked him to date these portraits but he could not do so accurately. However it would be possible by consulting either the owners or the R.A. catalogues to find out when they were painted. I have only recorded the dates he suggested.'
Acquired with portraits of Howard Walter Florey and Bennett Melvill Jones.
Purchased from the artist by Sir (Richard) Brinsley Ford, 9 January 1971 (his ref: 530/29/14a). Brinsley Ford’s personal account reads: ‘Three of these studies are done on the backs of large brown envelopes, those of Lord Florey and Sir Harry Ricardo on the backs of enveloped addressed to A.G-J. when he was on the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board. But he told me that even if the postage marks were legible, they would be no guide to the dates when the portraits were painted as he was in the habit of accumulating these envelopes for future use! I asked him to date these portraits but he could not do so accurately. However it would be possible by consulting either the owners or the R.A. catalogues to find out when they were painted. I have only recorded the dates he suggested.'
Acquired with portraits of Howard Walter Florey and Bennett Melvill Jones.
Associated place
