Collection Summary
Rothenstein, William,
1872-1945
William Rothenstein Art Collection
1896?-1944?
Art Collection AR-00232
2 boxes, 1 oversize folder, 1 framed painting (34 items)
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin
The collection consists of thirty-four original works
of art. The drawings, lithographs, and one oil painting are portraits of various
important figures who were contemporaries of Rothenstein.
No linguistic material present
Acquisition:
Purchases (R16, R162, R830, R1009, R1901, R2109, R2391, R2767, R3011, R3992, R4562),
and gift
Access:
Open for research. 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 James Whistler, Edgar Degas, and Henri 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. Sir William Rothenstein.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary
of Art, ed. B. S. Myers. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969.
Towndrow, K. R. Sir William Rothenstein.
The Dictionary of
National Biography: 1940-1950, ed. L. G. W. Legg & E. T.
Williams. London: Oxford University Press, 1967.
Scope and Contents
The William Rothenstein Art Collection consists of thirty-four original
works of art, dating between 1896 and circa 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 (A. E.), George Bernard Shaw, James Stephens,
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 Collection
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.
1 drawing: red chalk, col., 19.5 x 27.5
cm.
65.474
Flat file
Max Beerbohm at his Villa Rapallo.
1929.
1 drawing: pastel, col., 39.6 x 51.5
cm.
66.29
1.2
[Max Beerbohm; accompanied by sheet of letterpress].
Undated.
1 print: lithograph, 43.7 x 28
cm.
83.11.1-2
1.3
[Lady Florence Kahn Beerbohm].
1916.
1 drawing: pencil, 34.9 x 27.7
cm.
65.230
1.4
[Laurence Binyon].
1928?
1 print: lithograph, 30.5 x 28.4
cm.
67.46
1.5
[Edward Carpenter].
1914.
1 drawing: pencil, 35.3 x 25.2
cm.
65.351
1.6
[R. B. Cunninghame Graham].
1896?
1 print: lithograph, 38 x 28.5
cm.
67.47
1.7
[R. B. Cunninghame Graham].
1896?
1 print: lithograph, 38 x 25.5
cm.
Dobie 260
1.8
[Albert Einstein].
Undated.
1 drawing: pastel, col., 22.4 x 32.3
cm.
65.220
1.9
[André Gide].
1918.
1 drawing: pastel, col., 36.5 x 30.8
cm.
65.307
1.10
[Sir Edmund Gosse].
Undated.
1 print: lithograph, 28.4 x 26.5
cm.
68.72
1.11
[Harley Granville-Barker].
1920.
1 drawing: pastel, col., 27.7 x 21.5
cm.
65.196
1.12
[Laurence Housman].
1898?
1 print: lithograph, 45.6 x 28.2
cm.
73.223
1.13
[Laurence Housman].
1898?
1 print: lithograph, 45.4 x 28.5
cm.
80.52
1.14
[W. H. Hudson].
1920.
1 drawing: pastel, col., 36.7 x 26.4
cm.
Dobie 181
1.15
[W. H. Hudson].
1944?
1 print: lithograph, 37.5 x 24.9
cm.
Dobie 259
1.16
[Henry James].
Undated.
2 prints: lithograph, 37.7 x 25.8
cm.
73.364.1-2
1.17
[Eric Kennington].
1918.
2 drawings: pastel, col., 46.2 x 33.8 cm. or
smaller
65.282.1-2
1.18
Frederic Manning.
1921.
1 drawing: pastel, col., 39.3 x 29
cm.
65.352
1.19
[Axel Munthe].
Undated.
1 drawing: pastel, col., 39.5 x 28.8
cm.
65.353
2.2
[George William Russell (A. E.)].
Undated.
1 drawing: pastel, col., 39.2 x 28.6
cm.
74.6
2.3
[George Bernard Shaw].
1928.
1 drawing: pastel, col., 39.3 x 29.3
cm.
65.149
2.4
[George Bernard Shaw].
Undated.
1 print: lithograph, 29.7 x 20.8
cm.
65.345
2.5
[George Bernard Shaw].
Undated.
1 drawing: pen and ink, 16.9 x 12.2
cm.
65.443
2.5
[George Bernard Shaw].
Undated.
1 drawing: pen and ink, 19.9 x 13.3
cm.
65.444
2.1
[George Bernard Shaw, caricature].
Undated.
1 drawing: pen and ink, 13.9 x 9
cm.
65.498
Painting storage
[George Bernard Shaw].
Undated.
1 painting: oil on panel, col., visible image 44.5 x 34
cm., in frame 61 x 49 cm.
70.16
2.6
First sketch for [illeg.] of James Stevens [i.e.
Stephens].
Undated.
1 drawing: pencil, 28.7 x 28.3
cm.
72.89
2.7
James Stephens.
Undated.
1 print: lithograph, 45.4 x 28.5
cm.
73.225
2.8
Miss Ellen Terry.
Undated.
1 print: lithograph, 32.7 x 24.3
cm.
65.520.4759
2.9
[William Butler Yeats].
1897.
1 print: lithograph, 37.3 x 25.1
cm.
65.177
2.10
[William Butler Yeats].
Undated.
1 drawing: charcoal, 38.8 x 28.1
cm.
65.198
2.11
[William Butler Yeats].
Undated.
1 drawing: charcoal, pen and ink, 37.7 x 25.2
cm.
65.308
2.12
[William Butler Yeats].
Undated.
1 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