OBJECT OF THE WEEK: T.E Lawrence’s “Ghost Portrait”.

[The Tank Museum]

This Saturday, The Tank Museum is hosting a lecture by Andrew Simpson titled `Lawrence After Arabia`. One of the less well-known Lawrence related items in our collection is this portrait.

In 1921, distinguished war artist, Eric Kennington, accidently composed this ghostly and prophetic portrait of the great Lawrence of Arabia.

 

Eric Kennington rose to prominence after he was employed by the War Propaganda Bureau, to produce pictures of the Western Front, and would eventually go on to be the official war artist for World War Two. In the interim, the artist composed numerous pictures and sculptures, of his famous friend, T.E. Lawrence.

 

Before Lawrence left the Colonial Office to travel to the East, Kennington was commissioned to complete his portrait. However, soon after Lawrence’s departure Kennington became dissatisfied with his composition. He particularly disliked the heaviness and force of the treatment, and decided to remedy this by removing some of the pastel.

 

He placed the drawing board on the floor, covered it with a couple of sheets of paper, and proceeded to walk around on top of it for a little while. When he removed the top sheets of paper, he was left with a more satisfying portrait, and an unexpected surprise.

The excess pastel had left a faint reverse copy imprinted on the covering sheet. Not thinking much of this accidental copy, he placed it in a drawer and it was promptly forgotten for the next fourteen years.

 

After Lawrence’s death, in 1935, the artist rediscovered this forgotten drawing and was struck by its ethereal nature and the stigmata-like wounds on the forehead which had been absent from the original. The accidental portrait was purchased by Colonel Buxton and presented to All Souls College, Oxford, where it still hangs. On the initiative of Mr. Lionel Curtis a private edition of a hundred copies was printed, and in 2005 one of these was given to the museum by a private donor.

 

At T.E. Lawrence’s funeral Eric Kennington was one of the pallbearer’s, and he went on to sculpt a memorial for his good friend.

 

The artist’s memorial depicts Lawrence of Arabia in effigy. He is lying down, clothed in Arabic dress, holding a curved dagger in his hand and a whip by his side. At his feet is a block of Hittite sculpture, showing two fighting bulls, which is said to represent his archaeological research and his struggles in the First World War.

 

Originally this memorial was destined for St.Paul’s Cathedral, but controversy surrounding Lawrence, and the fact that he was depicted in Arab clothes, caused them to reject it. It would be offered to Westminster Abbey and Salisbury Cathedral, before eventually being accepted by St. Martins Church, Wareham – the oldest church in Dorset.

 

Lawrence of Arabia himself was buried in nearby Moreton Church, on the same estate as his beloved Cloud’s Hill.

 

To find out more about this Saturday’s Lecture click the image below: