Naval Officers of World War I

Naval Officers of World War I is a large oil on canvas painting by Sir Arthur Stockdale Cope, completed in 1921. It was commissioned by South African financier Sir Abraham Bailey, 1st Baronet to commemorate the Royal Navy officers who commanded British fleets in the First World War. Cope's painting was first exhibited at the Royal Academy summer exhibition in 1921 and donated to the National Portrait Gallery that year.

Background

Bailey commissioned two other commemorative portraits, General Officers of World War I (originally entitled Some General Officers of the Great War) by John Singer Sargent, and Statesmen of World War I by Sir James Guthrie. Bailey paid £5,000 for each of the three paintings and donated all three to the National Portrait Gallery.

Painting

The painting measures 104 × 202.5 inches (264 × 514 cm). It depicts 22 senior officers of the Royal Navy who served during the First World War. Cope worked from sketches of each subject, and set them in the wood-panelled Admiralty Board Room at the Old Admiralty Building in Whitehall. There is a wind dial on one wall, with paintings of naval scenes to either side. On the wall to the left is a portrait of Horatio Nelson by Leonardo Guzzardi, near a group of three officers who were killed in action during the war: Sir Robert Arbuthnot, 4th Baronet, Sir Christopher Cradock and Sir Horace Hood. Viscount Jellicoe is shown to the right, sitting on a red leather chair, in conversation with his Chief of Staff, Sir Charles Madden, 1st Baronet

The officers depicted are, from left to right:

The selection of officers depicted was largely the suggestion of Sir Oswyn Murray, Secretary to the Admiralty, who proposed 20 admirals who had served at sea during the war. To his list were added the First Sea Lords in 1914 and in 1918, Prince Louis of Battenberg and Rosslyn Wemyss. Notable omissions include Admiral of the Fleet John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher and Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Jackson, both of whom held the post of First Sea Lord during the war, Fisher from November 1914 to May 1915 and Jackson from May 1915 to December 1916. Fisher was omitted at his own request. Also left out were Dudley de Chair and Reginald Tupper, who commanded the 10th Cruiser Squadron in the Northern Patrol.

The painting is held by the National Portrait Gallery but had not been exhibited for several decades due to its poor condition. After restoration, it went back on display in May 2014 to commemorate the centenary of the beginning of the First World War.

References

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