1922 John Singer Sargent - General Officers of World War I

''General Officers of World War I'' (originally entitled ''Some General Officers of the Great War'') is an oil painting by

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...

, completed in 1922. It was commissioned by South African financier Sir Abraham Bailey, 1st Baronet to commemorate the generals who commanded British and British Empire armies in the First World War.

Background

Sargent was initially unwilling to take on such a large project, but took the commission in January 1919 and began work in August 1920, after he completed his similarly huge painting, '' Gassed''. He was also working on murals for the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. Sargent found it difficult to find a suitable composition for so many full-length portraits, and Sargent himself foresaw a "horrible failure". The resulting painting is unsatisfactory, with 22 men in khaki uniforms standing like pillars in a crowd in front of an anonymous brownish void, possibly an open doorway, with the bases of fluted pillars to either side. Sargent described it as "painting them all standing up in a vacuum". They look forward with blank stares, with no discernible purpose, almost as if each was unaware of the others around him. The completed painting measures . It was exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in 1922. Bailey commissioned two other commemorative portraits, ''

Statesmen of World War I ''Statesmen of World War I'' is an oil on canvas painting by Sir James Guthrie, completed in 1930, shortly before Guthrie's death. It was commissioned by South African financier Sir Abraham Bailey, 1st Baronet to commemorate the politicians an ...

'' by Sir James Guthrie, and ''

Naval Officers of World War I ''Naval Officers of World War I'' is a large oil on canvas group portrait 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 off ...

'' by Sir

Arthur Stockdale Cope Sir Arthur Stockdale Cope, (2 November 1857 – 5 July 1940) was a British portraitist. Biography Cope was born on 2 November 1857, in South Kensington, London. His father was Charles West Cope (1811–1890), a successful history and genr ...

. Bailey paid £5,000 for each of the three paintings and donated all three to the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...

Generals

The painting depicts 22 of the approximately 1,500 brigadier-generals, major-generals, lieutenant-generals, generals, and field marshals who served in the British and Imperial armies in the First World War. All but two of the subjects reached the rank of at least lieutenant-general, and most were commanders of armies or army corps. The only two divisional commanders are Major-General Lukin and Major-General Russell. From left to right, they are: # Field Marshal William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood (commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps from 1914 to 1916, and of the British Fifth Army in 1918) # Field Marshal Jan Smuts (commander of Imperial forces in east Africa in 1916) # General Louis Botha (commander in southwest Africa) (blue lapel flashes) # Field Marshal Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy (commander of the British Third Army from 1917 to 1919) # General Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson (commander of the

British Fourth Army The Fourth Army was a field army that formed part of the British Expeditionary Force during the First World War. The Fourth Army was formed on 5 February 1916 under the command of General Sir Henry Rawlinson to carry out the main British contribu ...

from 1916 to 1919) (carrying a coat) # Major-General Sir Henry Lukin (commander of the

South African Brigade South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

from 1915 to 1916, and of the 9th (Scottish) Division from 1916 to 1918) # General Sir John Monash (commander of the Australian Corps from 1917 to 1918) # General Henry Horne, 1st Baron Horne (commander of the British First Army from September 1917) # Field Marshal George Milne, 1st Baron Milne (commander of British forces in Salonika from 1916 to 1919) # Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet ( Chief of the Imperial General Staff from February 1918) # Major-General Sir

Andrew Hamilton Russell Major General Sir Andrew Hamilton Russell (23 February 1868 – 29 November 1960) was a senior officer of the New Zealand Military Forces who served during the First World War. Born in Napier, New Zealand, Russell spent most of his youth in Engl ...

(commander of the

New Zealand Division The New Zealand Division was an infantry division of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force raised for service in the First World War. It was formed in Egypt in early 1916 when the New Zealand and Australian Division was renamed after the detachmen ...

from 1916 to 1919) # Field Marshal Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer (commander of the British Second Army from 1915 to 1917 and in 1918) (white moustache) # General Sir

John Cowans General (United Kingdom), General Sir John Stephen Cowans, (11 March 1862 – 16 April 1921) was a senior British Army officer who served as Quartermaster-General to the Forces from 1912 to 1919, covering the period of the First World War. ...

( Quartermaster-General to the Forces from 1912 to 1919) # Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force in France from December 1915 to 1919) (with baton) # Field Marshal

John French, 1st Earl of Ypres Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, (28 September 1852 – 22 May 1925), known as Sir John French from 1901 to 1916, and as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a senior British Army officer. Born in Kent to ...

(commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1914 to December 1915) (with baton, wearing coat) # Field Marshal Sir William Robertson, 1st Baronet ( Chief of the Imperial General Staff from December 1915 to February 1918) # Lieutenant-General Sir

Stanley Maude Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stanley Maude KCB CMG DSO (24 June 1864 – 18 November 1917) was a British Army officer. He is known for his operations in the Mesopotamian campaign during the First World War and for conquering Baghdad in 19 ...

(commander of British forces in Mesopotamia from 1916 to his death in 1917) # Field Marshal

Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby, (23 April 1861 – 14 May 1936) was a senior British Army officer and Imperial Governor. He fought in the Second Boer War and also in the First World War, in which he led th ...

(commander of the British Third Army in 1916 to 1917, and the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in the Middle East) (turning away, with sword) # Lieutenant-General Sir William Marshall (commander of British forces in Mesopotamia from 1917 to 1919) # General Sir Arthur Currie (commander of the

Canadian Corps The Canadian Corps was a World War I corps formed from the Canadian Expeditionary Force in September 1915 after the arrival of the 2nd Canadian Division in France. The corps was expanded by the addition of the 3rd Canadian Division in December ...

from June 1917 to 1918) (carrying coat) # Field Marshal Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan (commander of the

Italian Tenth Army The 10th Army ( it, 10ª Armata) was a field army of the Royal Italian Army, which fought in World War I and in Italian North Africa during World War II. World War I Formation After the Battle of Caporetto (November 1917) the Italian Army (Re ...

from March 1918) # General Sir

Charles Macpherson Dobell Lieutenant General Sir Charles Macpherson Dobell (22 June 1869 – 17 October 1954) was a Canadian soldier who served with the Royal Welch Fusiliers of the British Army. Career Born in Quebec City, the son of Richard Reid Dobell, an MP, and a g ...

(commander in Cameroon from 1914 to 1916, and then in the Middle East until 1917) The generals are mostly British, but some representatives from the British Empire are also included: Field Marshal Smuts, General Botha and Major-General Lukin from South Africa, Generals Currie and Dobell from Canada, General Monash from Australia, and Major-General Russell from New Zealand. A list of potential subjects was compiled by

Evan Charteris The Hon. Sir Evan Edward Charteris (29 January 1864 – 16 November 1940, Jesmond Hill, Pangbourne) was an English biographer, barrister and arts administrator. He published notable biographies of his friend John Singer Sargent and of Edmund Gosse. ...

and

Lewis Vernon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt Lewis Vernon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt (born Reginald Vernon Harcourt; 31 January 1863 – 24 February 1922), was a British Liberal Party politician who held the Cabinet post of Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1910 to 1915. Lor ...

, and approved by Bailey. Some were deliberately omitted (for example, General Ian Hamilton was blamed for the failure at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

and left out). Others prominent army commanders to be left out include

Horace Smith-Dorrien General Sir Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien, (26 May 1858 – 12 August 1930) was a British Army General. One of the few British survivors of the Battle of Isandlwana as a young officer, he also distinguished himself in the Second Boer War. Smith ...

, Hubert Gough,

Charles Monro Charles Monro may refer to: *Sir Charles Monro, 1st Baronet General Sir Charles Carmichael Monro, 1st Baronet, (15 June 1860 – 7 December 1929) was a British Army General in the First World War. He held the post of Commander-in-Chief, India in ...

Richard Haking General Sir Richard Cyril Byrne Haking, (24 January 1862 – 9 June 1945), was a British general who commanded XI Corps in the First World War. Arguments over the late release of Haking's Corps on the first day of the Battle of Loos were instru ...

, William Peyton,

Charles Kavanagh Lieutenant General Sir Charles Toler MacMorrough Kavanagh, (25 March 1864 – 11 October 1950) was a British Army officer who commanded the Cavalry Corps at the Battle of Amiens. Military career Born the son of Arthur MacMorrough Kavanagh, ...

John Nixon John Nixon is the name of: Politicians *John Nixon (MP), Member of the Long Parliament in England, representing Oxford City 1646-1648 *John T. Nixon (1820–1889), U.S. Representative from New Jersey * John William Nixon (1880–1949), Unionist pol ...

, Percy Lake, and

Charles Townshend Charles Townshend (28 August 1725 – 4 September 1767) was a British politician who held various titles in the Parliament of Great Britain. His establishment of the controversial Townshend Acts is considered one of the key causes of the Ame ...

; administrative officers such as Stanley Brenton von Donop,

William Furse Lieutenant General Sir William Thomas Furse, (21 April 1865 – 31 May 1953) was a Master-General of the Ordnance. Early life and education Furse was born in Staines, Middlesex, the second son of the Ven. Charles Furse (born Johnson), Archd ...

, Nevil Macready, George Macdonogh, Ronald Charles Maxwell and Travers Clarke, several Chiefs of the Imperial General Staff –

Charles W. H. Douglas General Sir Charles Whittingham Horsley Douglas, (17 July 1850 – 25 October 1914) was a British Army officer who served in the Second Anglo-Afghan War, the First Boer War, the Suakin Expedition, the Second Boer War and the First World War. He ...

, James Wolfe Murray, and Archibald Murray – and army chiefs of staff, such as Charles "Tim" Harington, Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd,

Launcelot Kiggell Lieutenant-General Sir Launcelot Edward Kiggell, (2 October 1862 – 23 February 1954) was an Irish-born British Army officer who was Chief of the General Staff (CGS) for the British Armies in France under Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig from la ...

and

Herbert Lawrence General Sir Herbert Alexander Lawrence, (8 August 1861 – 17 January 1943) was a general in the British Army, a banker and a businessman. Early life Lawrence was born in London on 8 August 1861, the son of Sir John Laird Mair Lawrence, later ...

. There are no officers from the Royal Flying Corps, such as Hugh Trenchard, David Henderson and John Salmond, or the Tank Corps, such as Hugh Elles.

References

''Painted Men in Britain, 1868–1918: Royal Academicians and Masculinities''
Jongwoo Jeremy Kim, pp. 150–151.
''General Officers of World War I''
National Portrait Gallery * Gary Sheffield, ''General officers of World War I'', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press
accessed 1 Oct 2014
{{John Singer Sargent 1922 paintings Paintings by John Singer Sargent Paintings in the National Portrait Gallery, London War paintings Group portraits by American artists

Background

Generals

See also

References