Eileen Soper

Eric Liddell, 1902 - 1945. Athlete and missionary

About this artwork

This drawing is a study for Soper’s portrait of Eric Liddell, which is also in the National Galleries of Scotland Collections. The portrait was painted in 1925, a year after the runner’s famous victory at the men’s 400 metres at the Paris Olympics. Soper was a family friend and it is no small achievement that he allowed her to paint his portrait as he was a strict evangelical Christian and a pillar of the Scottish Congregational Church, who preached against personal vanity and who disapproved of pictures on religious grounds. No other portraits of him exist.

Updated before 2020

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Eileen Soper

Eileen Soper