Portrait of Eric Spencer Fitzwilliam, the 9th Earl Fitzwilliam

This handsome chalk portrait was executed by John Singer Sargent in 1912, and depicts Eric Spencer Fitzwilliam, the 9th Earl Fitzwilliam (1883-1952). The work was commissioned by Mrs Dorothy Walker Heneage, together with a portrait of herself, as the pair were close friends. In a letter dating from March 1912 Sargent notes that he was pleased that Dorothy had a nice recollection of sitting for her portrait, but he couldn’t believe that Earl Fitzwilliam would wish to be drawn again or submit to the operation ‘without anaesthetics’ (S. Walker-Heneage, op. cit., p. 183).
We are grateful to Richard Ormond for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.