Statesmen of the Great War
Like most things in Edinburgh, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery is quite literally next to my office. Visiting in September was my first opportunity since this magazine published its dedicated Scotland edition last year. At last, I had my picture taken with Sir James Guthrie’s acclaimed portrait of Winston Churchill, which adorned the cover.
Designed by Robert Rowand Anderson and built between 1885 and 1890, the Scottish Portrait Gallery is a gorgeous, Gothic revivalist building. It shares a connection with Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery, where, in one of the main galleries, resides a 16-inch miniature model of the Churchill statue in Woodford Green, London. For good measure, it sits in front of a Spitfire. Glasgow always tries to outdo the capital.
Nevertheless, it is Guthrie’s Churchill portrait that is universally recognisable. But who was James Guthrie, and how did such a renowned picture come from such a neglected area of Churchill study as Scotland?
Churchill and Scotland
For context, Churchill monuments are in short supply in Scotland. Guthrie’s portrait is a global phenomenon, at all of 91.5 x 71.1 cm (and framed at 114.1 x 94 x 7.5 cm).1 The dimensions are essential, for it is considerably more than you will find elsewhere about Churchill’s plethoric Scottish connections (see cover of FH 189).
For me, the portrait captures Churchill’s coy irascibility. He is up to mischief; you can see it in the eyes. He looks almost fed up with his head/hand posture and dreaming
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