The Clark Family, 1951 | ALFRED KINGSLEY LAWRENCE (1893 - 1975)

Destined to fill any room with glamour, this exquisite 1950’s large scale oil sketch by leading portrait painter Alfred Kingsley Lawrence RA (1893 - 1975) is a thrilling grand manner society portrait in the tradition of John Singer Sargent.

A study for a formal family portrait exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1951, Jane, Jennifer and Lady Susan Clark, the family of Sir Andrew Clark Bt (1898 - 1979), are portrayed in their sophisticated finery with a distinct 1950’s palette. 

Lawrence studied at King Edward VII School of Art, at the Royal College of Art (interrupted by the Great War) and, as a Prix de Rome winner in 1923, at the British School in Rome.  

Regarded as one of the country's top figure and portrait painters, he was selected in 1927 to help create murals for the 'Building of Britain' project in St Stephen's Hall at the Palace of Westminster.  Other public commissions include murals for the Laing Art Gallery and the Bank of England.  In 1938 he became a Royal Academician. His work is held in the permanent collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the National Trust and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.