William
Rothenstein Art Collection
1896?-1944?
2 boxes, 1
oversize folder, 1 framed painting (34 items)
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center,
The University of Texas at Austin
Rothenstein, William,
1872-1945
The collection consists of 34
original works of art. The drawings, lithographs, and one oil painting are
portraits of various important figures who were contemporaries of
Rothenstein.
Acquisition:
Purchases (R16, R162, R830, R1009, R1901, R2109, R2391,
R2767, R3011, R3992, R4562), and gift
Access:
A minimum of twenty-four hours is required to pull art
materials to the Reading Room.
Processed by:
Alice Egan, 1997, and Helen Young, 2001
Biographical Sketch
The English portrait artist Sir William Rothenstein was born
January 29, 1872, near Bradford, Yorkshire. William Rothenstein was the son of
Moritz Rothenstein, who came to England from Hanover in 1859, and the brother
of Charles Lambert Rutherston, the collector, and Albert Daniel Rutherston, the
artist. William Rothenstein studied for one year at the Slade School in London
under Alphonse Legros, after which he spent four years in Paris, where he
attended the Académie Julian. While in Paris, Rothenstein met many of the
important artists of the time; he was particularly influenced by Whistler,
Degas, and Fantin-Latour. After his return to England in 1893, Rothenstein was
commissioned by John Lane to execute a series of portraits of Oxford figures,
which was published as
Oxford Characters: Twenty-four
Lithographs (London: J. Lane, 1896). During his life he went on to
create over 750 portrait drawings and 135 lithographs.
Rothenstein was a professor of civic art at the University of
Sheffield, a principal of the Royal College of Art, a trustee of the Tate
Gallery, and a member of the Royal Fine Art Commission. He served as an
official war artist during World War I, and was an unofficial artist to the
Royal Air Force during World War II. Rothenstein died in London on February 14,
1945.
Sources:Ormond, R. L. (1969). In B. S. Myers
(Ed.),
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Art
(vol. 4, p. 564). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Towndrow, K. R. (1967). Sir William Rothenstein. In L. G. W.
Legg & E. T. Williams (Eds.),
The Dictionary of National Biography:
1940-1950 (pp. 738-793). London: Oxford University Press.
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of 34 original works of art, dating
between 1896 and 1944?, by William Rothenstein. The works (drawings,
lithographs, and one oil painting) are portraits of various important figures
who were contemporaries of Rothenstein. Subjects include: Maurice Baring, Max
Beerbohm, Laurence Binyon, Edward Carpenter, R. B. Cunninghame Graham, Albert
Einstein, André Gide, Edmund Gosse, Harley Granville-Barker, Laurence Housman,
W. H. Hudson, Henry James, Florence Kahn, Eric Kennington, Frederic Manning,
Axel Munthe, George William Russell, George Bernard Shaw, James Stevens, Dame
Ellen Terry, and W. B. Yeats. The works are arranged alphabetically by portrait
subject.
The Art Collection also has two caricatures by Max Beerbohm
of William Rothenstein in its Max Beerbohm Collection. The Ransom Center has in
its Manuscripts Collections material related to Rothenstein in the Sir William
Rothenstein Collection and in the collection of John Lane Company Records. The
Ransom Center's Photography Collection has Rothenstein material in its Literary
File.
Provenance
Three items came from the Dobie Collection.
William Rothenstein--Item List
1
1
M. Baring [Maurice Baring].
1925
drawing: red chalk, col.
19.5 x 27.5 cm.
65.474
FF 3-7
Max Beerbohm at his Villa
Rapallo.
1929
drawing: pastel, col.
39.6 x 51.5 cm.
66.29
1
2
[Max Beerbohm; accompanied by sheet of
letterpress].
n.d.
print: lithograph
43.7 x 28 cm.
83.11.1-.2
1
3
[Lady Florence Kahn Beerbohm].
1916
drawing: pencil
34.9 x 27.7 cm.
65.230
1
4
[Laurence Binyon].
1928?
print: lithograph
30.5 x 28.4 cm.
67.46
1
5
[Edward Carpenter].
1914
drawing: pencil
35.3 x 25.2 cm.
65.351
1
6
[R. B. Cunninghame Graham].
1896?
print: lithograph
38 x 28.5 cm.
67.47
1
7
[R. B. Cunninghame Graham].
1896?
print: lithograph
38 x 25.5 cm.
Dobie 260
1
8
[Albert Einstein].
n.d.
drawing: pastel, col.
22.4 x 32.3 cm.
65.220
1
9
[Andre Gide].
1918
drawing: pastel, col.
36.5 x 30.8 cm.
65.307
1
10
[Sir Edmund Gosse].
n.d.
print: lithograph
28.4 x 26.5 cm.
68.72
1
11
[Harley Granville-Barker].
1920
drawing: pastel, col.
27.7 x 21.5 cm.
65.196
1
12
[Laurence Housman].
1898?
print: lithograph
45.6 x 28.2 cm.
73.223
1
13
[Laurence Housman].
1898?
print: lithograph
45.4 x 28.5 cm.
80.52
1
14
[W. H. Hudson].
1920
drawing: pastel, col.
36.7 x 26.4 cm.
Dobie 181
1
15
[W. H. Hudson].
1944?
print: lithograph
37.5 x 24.9 cm.
Dobie 259
1
16
[Henry James].
n.d.
print: lithograph
37.7 x 25.8 cm.
73.364.1-.2
1
17
[Eric Kennington].
1918
drawings: pastel, col.
46.2 x 33.8 cm. or smaller
65.282.1-.2
1
18
Frederic Manning.
1921
drawing: pastel, col.
39.3 x 29 cm.
65.352
1
19
[Axel Munthe].
n.d.
drawing: pastel, col.
39.5 x 28.8 cm.
65.353
2
2
[A. E. Russell].
n.d.
drawing: pastel, col.
39.2 x 28.6 cm.
74.6
2
3
[George Bernard Shaw].
1928
drawing: pastel, col.
39.3 x 29.3 cm.
65.149
2
4
[George Bernard Shaw].
n.d.
print: lithograph
29.7 x 20.8 cm.
65.345
2
5
[George Bernard Shaw].
n.d.
drawing: pen and ink
16.9 x 12.2 cm.
65.443
2
5
[George Bernard Shaw].
n.d.
drawing: pen and ink
19.9 x 13.3 cm.
65.444
2
1
[George Bernard Shaw,
caricature].
n.d.
drawing: pen and ink
13.9 x 9 cm.
65.498
FAC Vault (Screen)
[George Bernard Shaw].
n.d.
painting: oil on panel, col.
visible image 44.5 x 34 cm., in frame 61 x 49
cm.
FAC Vault (Screen)
70.16
2
6
First sketch for [illeg.] of James Stevens
[i.e. Stephens].
n.d.
drawing: pencil
28.7 x 28.3 cm.
72.89
2
7
James Stephens.
n.d.
print: lithograph
45.4 x 28.5 cm.
73.225
2
8
Miss Ellen Terry.
n.d.
print: lithograph
32.7 x 24.3 cm.
65.520.4759
2
9
[William Butler Yeats].
1897
print: lithograph
37.3 x 25.1 cm.
65.177
2
10
[William Butler Yeats].
n.d.
drawing: charcoal
38.8 x 28.1 cm.
65.198
2
11
[William Butler Yeats].
n.d.
drawing: charcoal, pen and
ink 37.7 x 25.2 cm.
65.308
2
12
[William Butler Yeats].
n.d.
print: lithograph
45.2 x 27.5 cm.
82.19
2
13
English Portraits: a series of lithographed
drawings [covers]
1896
Letterpress sheets
43.4 x 28 cm. or smaller
79.102