Simon Elwes
| Simon Elwes | |
|---|---|
Elwes at Academie des Beaux Arts, Paris, 15 October 1922
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| Born |
Simon Edmund Vincent Paul Elwes 29 June 1902 Theddingworth, Leicestershire, England |
| Died | 6 August 1975 (aged 73) Amberley, West Sussex, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Education |
Slade School of Fine Art Académie Delecluse Academie des Beaux Arts Académie Andre Lhote |
| Known for | Portrait painting |
| Awards | RA, RP |
| Patron(s) | Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother |
Lt. Col. Simon Edmund Vincent Paul Elwes, RP, RA, KM (29 June 1902 – 6 August 1975) was a British war artist and society portrait painter whose patrons included presidents, kings, queens, statesmen, sportsmen, prominent social figures and many members of the British Royal Family. He was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
Elwes (pronounced "El-wez") was born on 29 June 1902 at Hothorpe Hall, Theddingworth, Leicestershire, the sixth and youngest son (two daughters were born later) of famed tenor Gervase Cary Elwes (1866–1921), and his wife, Lady Winifride Mary Elizabeth Feilding, daughter of the 8th Earl of Denbigh. He was the scion of the recusant Cary-Elwes family, of which many branches are known simply as "Elwes", which includes noted British monks and bishops, such as Abbott Columba Cary-Elwes, Archbishop Dudley Cary-Elwes and Father Luke Cary-Elwes. His niece, Polly Elwes, was a famous television personality in Britain. His grandson is the prominent English actor Cary Elwes.
Elwes' mother was so determined to have a painter in the family she studied art and even started painting herself while pregnant. For his education Elwes first attended two Catholic schools, Ladycross School in Seaford, and The Oratory School in Edgbaston. In 1918, at the age of sixteen, he was taken out of the Oratory and installed in the prestigious Slade School of Fine Art where Henry Tonks and Philip Wilson Steer taught there. After the Slade Elwes spent eight years in Paris, first at the Académie Delecluse and then at the Academie des Beaux Arts. While there he met a Belgian refugee, Mme. La Forge, who aroused his latent interest in painting. Mme. La Forge gave him the run of her studio and encouraged him to start again where he had left off. In 1920, Elwes began studying in ernest at Andre Lhote's Academy in Montparnasse, Paris. Fellow students included Henri Cartier-Bresson, Conrad O'Brien-ffrench and Elena Mumm Thornton Wilson. While in Paris Elwes did a black and white drawing of the Irish tenor and recording artist, John McCormack. McCormack would say to his wife of Elwes: "This lad has remarkable talent and will do big things, mark my words." From France Elwes would visit art galleries in Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. In 1922, Elwes borrowed the price of a ship fare to New York. He repaid the loan by doing charcoal drawings at $5 to $20 apiece. During this visit he managed to draw President Harding from life. Flushed with success, in 1926, he returned to England and on 25 November married the Hon. Gloria Elinor Rodd (born 1901), the daughter of the diplomat and scholar, Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell.
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