Sir Oswald Hornby Joseph Birley (31 March 1880 – 6 May 1952) was an English

portrait painter Portrait Painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and pr ...

and

royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

portraitist in the early part of the 20th century.

Early life and family

Birley was born in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

to Hugh Francis Birley (1855–1916) while his parents were on a world tour. He was born into an old

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

family. Upon returning to England, he was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (sc ...

, London and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. He was the great-grandson of Hugh Hornby Birley (1778–1845), who led the troops at the

Peterloo massacre The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Fifteen people died when cavalry charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who had gathered to demand the reform of parliament ...

Career

Military service

He served in France in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, first with the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

, later transferring to the Intelligence Corps, obtaining the rank of captain and being awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

in 1919. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he served with the rank of major in the Home Guard.

Painting career

A favourite of the Royal Family, he was well known for his portraits of

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

, Queen Mary,

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

. He painted several highly regarded portraits of Sir

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

(to whom he also gave lessons), and also a life-size portrait of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

which was the first to be hung in the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

shortly after Indian Independence on 28 August 1947. Other subjects were many war-time leaders such as Generals Eisenhower and Montgomery, as well as Admiral Mountbatten and Air Marshal Trenchard. He also painted the wealthy American financiers

Andrew Mellon Andrew William Mellon (; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), sometimes A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. From the wealthy Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylv ...

and

J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...

, the psychiatrist Sir James Crichton-Browne, and Welsh architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis. Birley painted the portrait of Leeds Lord Mayor Sir Charles Lupton (1855–1935). He was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

ed in 1949. A major retrospective exhibition of Birley's work was held at the Philip Mould & Company gallery on Pall Mall in 2007.

Personal life

Charleston Manor roof trusses by Charlie Verrall In 1921, the 41-year-old Birley married the 21-year-old "Irish beauty" Rhoda Vava Mary Lecky Pike (1900–1981). They bought and refurbished Charleston Manor in East Sussex. Rhoda later founded the Charleston Manor Festival there. The couple had two children: * Maxime Birley (1922–2009), a model and actress who married Count Alain Le Bailly de La Falaise (1905–1977) They divorced in 1950, following a series of her infidelities, including an affair with British ambassador

Duff Cooper Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, (22 February 1890 – 1 January 1954), known as Duff Cooper, was a British Conservative Party politician and diplomat who was also a military and political historian. First elected to Parliament in 19 ...

(1890–1954). She later married John McKendry, the curator of prints and photographs at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. *

Mark Birley Marcus Oswald Hornby Lecky Birley (29 May 1930 – 24 August 2007), known as Mark Birley, was a British entrepreneur known for his investments in the hospitality industry. Early life Mark Birley was the son of Sir Oswald Birley (1880–1952), ...

(1930–2007), an entrepreneur and founder of Annabel's in London, who married Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart (born 1934). They divorced in 1975 after her affair with Birley's friend Sir James Goldsmith (1933–1997). Birley died at his home in London on 6 May 1952, a week after returning from six-week trip to the United States where he received medical assistance.

Descendants

Birley's descendants include Robin Birley (born 1958), who married Lucy Ferry (1960–2018), and

India Jane Birley India Jane Birley (born 1961) is a British artist and businesswoman. Her father, Mark Birley, opened the private member's club Annabel's, named for her mother, Lady Annabel Goldsmith, in the early 1960s and Birley ran the club with her brother ...

(born 1961). Other descendants include the fashion designer and muse

Loulou de la Falaise Louise Vava Lucia Henriette Le Bailly de La Falaise (; 4 May 1947 – 5 November 2011), known as Loulou de la Falaise, was an English fashion muse and accessory and jewellery designer associated with Yves Saint Laurent. Author Judith Thurma ...

(1948–2011), who was married to Desmond FitzGerald, 29th

Knight of Glin The Knight of Glin (; dormant 14 September 2011), also known as the Black Knight or Knight of the Valley, was a hereditary title held by the FitzGerald and FitzMaurice families of County Limerick, Ireland, since the early 14th century. The fami ...

(1937–2011), and later to Thadée Klossowski de Rola, a French writer who is the younger son of the painter

Balthus Balthasar Klossowski de Rola (February 29, 1908 – February 18, 2001), known as Balthus, was a Polish-French modern artist. He is known for his erotically charged images of pubescent girls, but also for the refined, dreamlike quality of his image ...

(1908–2001). Loulou de la Falaise's niece is the fashion model Lucie de la Falaise (born 1973).

References

External links

*
Churchill by Oswald Birley - UK Parliament Living Heritage

Charleston Manor

* Works by Oswald Birley (public domain in Canada) {{DEFAULTSORT:Birley, Oswald 1880 births 1952 deaths 19th-century English painters 20th-century English painters Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Oswald Birley British Army personnel of World War I British Home Guard officers British people of English descent English male painters English portrait painters Intelligence Corps officers Knights Bachelor New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom New Zealand knights People educated at Harrow School Royal Fusiliers officers Members of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters