William Rothenstein:
An Inventory of His Art Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
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Administrative Information
Acquisition:
Purchases (R16, R162, R830, R1009, R1901, R2109, R2391, R2767, R3011, R3992, R4562), and gift
Provenance
Three items came from the Dobie Collection.
Processed by:
Alice Egan, 1997, and Helen Young, 2001
Restrictions
Access:
A minimum of twenty-four hours is required to pull art materials to the Reading Room.
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.
Container List
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | 65.474 M. Baring [Maurice Baring]. 1925 drawing: red chalk, col. 19.5 x 27.5 cm. |
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| Folder | |||||||||||||
| FF 3-7 | 66.29 Max Beerbohm at his Villa Rapallo. 1929 drawing: pastel, col. 39.6 x 51.5 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 83.11.1-.2 [Max Beerbohm; accompanied by sheet of letterpress]. n.d. print: lithograph 43.7 x 28 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 3 | 65.230 [Lady Florence Kahn Beerbohm]. 1916 drawing: pencil 34.9 x 27.7 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 4 | 67.46 [Laurence Binyon]. 1928? print: lithograph 30.5 x 28.4 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 5 | 65.351 [Edward Carpenter]. 1914 drawing: pencil 35.3 x 25.2 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 6 | 67.47 [R. B. Cunninghame Graham]. 1896? print: lithograph 38 x 28.5 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Dobie 260 [R. B. Cunninghame Graham]. 1896? print: lithograph 38 x 25.5 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 8 | 65.220 [Albert Einstein]. n.d. drawing: pastel, col. 22.4 x 32.3 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 9 | 65.307 [Andre Gide]. 1918 drawing: pastel, col. 36.5 x 30.8 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 10 | 68.72 [Sir Edmund Gosse]. n.d. print: lithograph 28.4 x 26.5 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 11 | 65.196 [Harley Granville-Barker]. 1920 drawing: pastel, col. 27.7 x 21.5 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 12 | 73.223 [Laurence Housman]. 1898? print: lithograph 45.6 x 28.2 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 13 | 80.52 [Laurence Housman]. 1898? print: lithograph 45.4 x 28.5 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Dobie 181 [W. H. Hudson]. 1920 drawing: pastel, col. 36.7 x 26.4 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Dobie 259 [W. H. Hudson]. 1944? print: lithograph 37.5 x 24.9 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 16 | 73.364.1-.2 [Henry James]. n.d. print: lithograph 37.7 x 25.8 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 17 | 65.282.1-.2 [Eric Kennington]. 1918 drawings: pastel, col. 46.2 x 33.8 cm. or smaller |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 18 | 65.352 Frederic Manning. 1921 drawing: pastel, col. 39.3 x 29 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 19 | 65.353 [Axel Munthe]. n.d. drawing: pastel, col. 39.5 x 28.8 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 2 | 74.6 [A. E. Russell]. n.d. drawing: pastel, col. 39.2 x 28.6 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 3 | 65.149 [George Bernard Shaw]. 1928 drawing: pastel, col. 39.3 x 29.3 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 4 | 65.345 [George Bernard Shaw]. n.d. print: lithograph 29.7 x 20.8 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 5 | 65.443 [George Bernard Shaw]. n.d. drawing: pen and ink 16.9 x 12.2 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 5 | 65.444 [George Bernard Shaw]. n.d. drawing: pen and ink 19.9 x 13.3 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 65.498 [George Bernard Shaw, caricature]. n.d. drawing: pen and ink 13.9 x 9 cm. |
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| FACVault | |||||||||||||
| FAC Vault (Screen) | 70.16 [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) |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 6 | 72.89 First sketch for [illeg.] of James Stevens [i.e. Stephens]. n.d. drawing: pencil 28.7 x 28.3 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 7 | 73.225 James Stephens. n.d. print: lithograph 45.4 x 28.5 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 8 | 65.520.4759 Miss Ellen Terry. n.d. print: lithograph 32.7 x 24.3 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 9 | 65.177 [William Butler Yeats]. 1897 print: lithograph 37.3 x 25.1 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 10 | 65.198 [William Butler Yeats]. n.d. drawing: charcoal 38.8 x 28.1 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 11 | 65.308 [William Butler Yeats]. n.d. drawing: charcoal, pen and ink 37.7 x 25.2 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 12 | 82.19 [William Butler Yeats]. n.d. print: lithograph 45.2 x 27.5 cm. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 13 | 79.102 English Portraits: a series of lithographed drawings [covers] 1896 Letterpress sheets 43.4 x 28 cm. or smaller |
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