Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll, 1903 - 1973
About this artwork
Ian Douglas Campbell succeeded his cousin to become 11th Duke of Argyll in 1949. With the dukedom came other honours: Hereditary Master of the Royal Household, Scotland; Hereditary High Sheriff of the County of Argyll; Admiral of the Western Coast and Isles; Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. The Duke’s many official duties ensured that proceedings relating to his divorce from his third duchess, Margaret, in 1963 were a matter of public interest. The sensational revelations in court, involving prominent figures on both sides of the Atlantic, became the diet of the popular press for many weeks. Like the contemporaneous Profumo affair at Westminster, the Argyll divorce heralded the dawn of the permissive sixties. This is a study for a full-length portrait of the Duke.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Sir Herbert James GunnScottish (1893 - 1964)
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title:Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll, 1903 - 1973
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date created:About 1956
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:46.00 x 35.50 cm; Framed: 53.00 x 42.50 x 2.20 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1998
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accession number:PG 3119
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
Sir Herbert James Gunn
Sir Herbert James Gunn
Glasgow-born artist (Herbert) James Gunn briefly studied art at Glasgow and Edinburgh before moving to the Académie Julian in Paris in 1911. After serving with the 10th Scottish Rifles in the First World War, Gunn returned to Scotland where he married twice within a decade. His second wife, Pauline Miller, became a model for some of his best-known paintings. In 1929 Gunn decided to devote himself to portraiture and soon established a prolific and successful career in London. His portraits are sometimes sombre but always carefully painted, with close attention to detail. His distinguished sitters included Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and the Queen Mother. Yet official recognition was slow to come, and only in 1961 was Gunn finally made a member of the Royal Academy.
