A Note from the Chairman – October 2022
There are several mysteries associated with Sir Charles Villiers Stanford. I have spoken in this letter before about a number of works that he composed which were not published and where the original scores have disappeared. These include the Piano Sonata, a number of sets of part songs and the three late Latin masses written for Westminster Abbey. Then we have the situation of the apparent destruction of all the family photographs and correspondence by Stanford’s son Guy. To add to this is the mystery of what happened to the portrait of Stanford painted in 1883 by the well know portrait painter Hubert von Herkomer.
Herkomer painted Stanford in 1883 and Stanford’s wife Jennie, in 1884. The portrait of Jennie was acquired by the Royal Academy of Music and hangs there. We know that Stanford considered selling the three-quarter length Herkomer portrait that was painted of him in 1923, when his financial situation was difficult and he was looking to raise funds. This did not happen and it appears that the portrait was eventually acquired by the Royal College of Music, probably as a gift from his son Guy.
The Herkomer portrait was apparently displayed at the RCM for a number of years. It was then lent for an exhibition at the Royal Festival Hall during the 1980s. During research for his biography of Stanford, Jeremy Dibble was told by Oliver Davies, then Head of the Portrait archives at the RCM, that the portrait was not returned to the College after the Royal Festival Hall exhibit. So what happened to it? Where is it now? How does a painting of that size and importance just disappear without trace?
By another coincidence, a black and white photograph of the Herkomer portrait of Stanford was to be the frontispiece in Jeremy Dibble’s 2002 biography of Stanford. This is included on the List of Plates for the book but due to a printing error it was not bound into most copies of the book sold.
We show below a copy of the portrait by Herkomer. It shows Stanford in 1883 at the age of 31, the year when he was appointed Professor at the Royal College of Music. It was the time when he was the up and coming young man of British music. He was in his prime. The portrait of Stanford which we all know is the one painted by William Orpen which hangs in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. This was completed in 1920 when Stanford was 68. It shows an older Stanford in his academic robes. This picture was commissioned by Stanford’s good friend Robert Finnie McEwen. An exact copy is displayed in the Music Room in Marchmont House, McEwan’s former estate in Berwickshire, Scotland.
We have asked the RCM to review its records to see if it can trace the whereabouts of the missing Herkomer portrait of Stanford. Failing this we would like to obtain a colour photograph of the portrait and get a copy made, which could hang in the RCM during 2024.
If any readers have any further information about the whereabouts of this portrait and/or can point us in the direction of a colour photograph of it, please contact Dan Wilkinson, the Stanford Society’s Honorary Secretary.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that more information about the Herkomer portrait of Stanford will come to light shortly.
