Portrait of T. S. Eliot
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| Portrait of T. S. Eliot | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Wyndham Lewis |
| Year | 1938 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 133.3 cm × 85.5 cm (52.5 in × 33.7 in)[1] |
| Location | Durban Art Gallery, Durban |
Portrait of T. S. Eliot is a 1938 painting by Wyndham Lewis, depicting the US-born British writer T. S. Eliot. It received publicity when it was rejected by the Royal Academy of Arts. Eliot praised the painting and it became one of Lewis' most celebrated works. It was bought by the Durban Art Gallery, in Durban.
The portrait shows Eliot from the front as he sits in an armchair, dressed in a lounge suit and a waistcoat. His hands are crossed and he has a serious facial expression.[2][3] The shapes that make up the painting are stylised; The Guardian describes Eliot's face as "a jigsaw puzzle of shadowy half-moons and sharp planes".[2] In the background, on each side of the armchair, are abstract shapes reminiscent of smoke plumes.[2] The background has been interpreted as an expression of experimental ideas and as two pillars symbolising the male and female sides of creativity, represented by a phallus and a bird's nest.[2][4]
Reception
Lewis submitted the portrait to the 1938 exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, knowing it would be rejected. The rejection caused a reaction from the media and gave Lewis attention from a wider public.[2][3] Augustus John resigned from the academy in reaction to the rejection.[4] The phallic shape in the background has been given as a reason for the rejection.[5]
Eliot commended the painting in a letter to Lewis on 21 April 1938: "It seems to me a very good portrait, and one by which I am quite willing that posterity should know me, if it takes any interest in me at all ... and I certainly have no desire, now, that my portrait should be painted by any painter whose portrait of me would be accepted by the Royal Academy."[6] According to The Independent, the "aura of scandal" around the painting has made it "perhaps the most celebrated" work by Lewis.[5]