Mansion House Antiques & Fine Art has dated this piece to the 1920s.
Alfred Egerton Cooper.
He has also signed in verso on a piece of paper stuck across the stretcher and the frame which says Painted by A. Egerton Cooper 1928.
The painting depicts a bust length portrait of a Lt.Colonel in the Grenadier Guards in his red tunic with the 'grenade' symbol on either side of his collar.
We know that he was in the Grenadier Guards, as his tunic brass buttons are equally spaced, as the other regiments in the Guards have their buttons spaced in groups of two, three, four and five.
He is wearing the Queen's Africa medal with 5 clasps, which denotes that he served in the Boer War between 11th October 1899 and 31st May 1902.
He is also wearing the 1914 Star, the War Medal and the Victory Medal from WWI. This trio of medals are sometimes irreverently referred to as 'Pip, Squeak and Wilfred'.
SIGNATURE
The artist has signed the painting A. Egerton Cooper in capitals in the top left hand corner of the picture
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Alfred Egerton Cooper b1883-d1974, was born on 5th July 1883 at Tettenhall in Staffordshire.
He was educated at Durham School and studied at Bilston College of Art and at the Royal College of Art in London, where he received his Diploma in 1911.
After entering a competition, where John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) was one of the judges, and voted for the young artist, he was invited by John Singer Sargent to become his assistant at his Tite Street, Chelsea studio, where A. E. Cooper worked for about a year, painting backgrounds and details in the Master's paintings.
During WWI, he served with the Artists' Rifles where, unfortunately, the sight of one his eyes was impaired by chlorine gas.
At the end of the war, he was made artist to the Royal Air Force, where he became expert in the art of large scale aerial camouflage and sketching and painting landscapes for the airforce.
Some of his related work in is the Imperial War Museum and the Royal Air Force Museum.
He painted portraits, figure subjects and some landscapes, and became a celebrated portraitist, and painted many notable people, including the Dukes of Kent and Connaught.
In 1940, he painted King George VI and in 1943, painted one of several portraits of Sir Winston Churchill, which was donated to the Carlton Club, and was reporduced in large numbers as a poster entitled 'Profile for Victory'.
Unusually Sir Winston actually liked all the his portraits painted by this artist. There is a newspaper cutting from the Daily Mail in 1943, attached to the back of the frame, giving details of an exhibition where this portrait of Sir Winston by A. E. Cooper was shown.
In 1954, he painted a large canvas of the Queen and the Queen Mother at the Balaclava Centennial Ball, which he painted, while in evening dress, at the event.
He lived in Chelsea for many years and died on 11th May 1974.
He exhibited at the Royal Academy (22 paintings), Royal Society of British Artists (110), Royal Society of Portrait Painters (10 Glasgow Institute 2), Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool (6), Fine Art Society (6), Royal Oil Painters Institute (3), New English Art Club (5) and many other London Galleries. He received an Honourable Mention at the Paris Salon in 1924. He was elected Associate Member of the Royal Society of British Artists in 1921 and a full Member in 1923.
FRAME & MOUNT
The painting is behind its original glass and is still sealed.The frame is hand carved solid wood with original gold leaf gilding and with framer's label denoting that the frame came from Chapman Bros.(Chelsea)Ltd.34a King's Chelsea Road,No.3179.
A sought after maker & valuable frame worth £750.
MEASUREMENTS: (Including Frame)
HEIGHT 31 Inches
WIDTH 27 Inches
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Mansion House Antiques & Fine Art has dated this piece to the 1920s.
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Military Oil Portrait Painting of a Lieutenant Colonel Grenadier Guard Wearing His Red Tunic & Medals by Respected English School Artist Alfred Egerton Cooper Being Presented in a Decoratly Crafted Solid Wooden Gilt Frame Size 31 X 27 Inches
