Monday, July 10, 2023

Queen Elizabeth II: Multi Ritratti by Edward Halliday

Edward Irvine Halliday (1902-1984), biographical information here, is not well-known today, but had a long career as a painter of portraits and murals.

Among his portrait subjects was Queen Elizabeth II.

It seems that many British organizations desired having a portrait of her.  Not just a photograph, but a real painting made with oil paints.  The Queen had many duties, and surely could not find time to pose for every requested portrait.  So Halliday, for example, painted several portraits of her posed the same, but attired differently and with different backgrounds.  I suppose other artists did the same thing, though I wasn't aware of this until I was collecting a set of images of Halliday's works.

Locations noted following Elizabeth's name are organizations that commissioned the paintings or where they are to be found.

Gallery
Princess Elizabeth - drawing, National Portrait Gallery -  c. 1949
Nice job: note the light, shadows and reflected light.

Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh, Britannia Royal Naval College - 1949
Phillip was only a Royal Navy lieutenant in those days.  Later he became an Admiral of the Fleet.

Elizabeth II, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool - c. 1955
Her head seems a trifle large compared to her arms and hands.

Elizabeth II, Guildford Guildhall - 1957
Here is an early version of the pose that Halliday kept using.  Possibly this was made during an actual sitting.

Elizabeth II, Guildhall Winchester - 1957
Same costume as in the previous image.  Same pose, of course.

Her Majesty the Queen, Southampton Mayor's Parlour - 1966
Same pose, but the rest differs.  Note that this was painted nine years later.

Elizabeth II with Latimer House in the Background, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom - 1966
Many 1957 portrait details are carried over to this 1966 work.

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