Oswald Birley
English portrait painter (1880–1952)
title: "Oswald Birley" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1880-births", "1952-deaths", "birley-family", "new-zealand-emigrants-to-the-united-kingdom", "people-educated-at-harrow-school", "alumni-of-trinity-college,-cambridge", "new-zealand-military-personnel-of-world-war-i", "british-army-personnel-of-world-war-i", "royal-fusiliers-officers", "intelligence-corps-officers", "new-zealand-military-personnel-of-world-war-ii", "british-home-guard-officers", "19th-century-english-painters", "20th-century-english-painters", "british-people-of-english-descent", "english-male-painters", "english-portrait-painters", "members-of-the-royal-institute-of-oil-painters", "knights-bachelor", "new-zealand-knights"] description: "English portrait painter (1880–1952)" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Birley" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary English portrait painter (1880–1952) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| honorific_prefix | Sir |
| name | Oswald Birley |
| honorific_suffix | |
| image | Oswald Birley self-portrait.jpg |
| caption | Self-portrait, 1920 |
| birth_name | Oswald Hornby Joseph Birley |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | New Zealand |
| death_date | |
| death_place | St John's Wood, London, England |
| resting_place_coordinates | |
| education | Harrow School |
| alma_mater | Trinity College |
| known_for | Royal portraitist |
| spouse | |
| children | Maxime Birley |
| Mark Birley | |
| :: |
| honorific_prefix = Sir | name = Oswald Birley | honorific_suffix = | image = Oswald Birley self-portrait.jpg | caption = Self-portrait, 1920 | birth_name = Oswald Hornby Joseph Birley | birth_date = | birth_place = New Zealand | death_date = | death_place = St John's Wood, London, England | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = | education = Harrow School | alma_mater = Trinity College | known_for = Royal portraitist | notable_works = | style = | movement = | spouse = | children = Maxime Birley Mark Birley | awards = | patrons = | memorials =
Sir Oswald Hornby Joseph Birley (31 March 1880 – 6 May 1952) was an English portrait painter and royal portraitist in the early part of the 20th century.
Early life and family
Birley was born in New Zealand to Hugh Francis Birley (1855–1916) while his parents were on a world tour. He was born into an old Lancashire family. Upon returning to England, he was educated at Harrow School, London and Trinity College, Cambridge.
He was the great-grandson of Hugh Hornby Birley (1778–1845), who led the troops at the Peterloo massacre.
Career
Military service
Birley served in France in World War I, first with the Royal Fusiliers, where in April 1915 he gained the temporary rank of lieutenant, later transferring to the Intelligence Corps, obtaining the rank of captain and being awarded the Military Cross in 1918.
During World War II he served with the rank of major in the Home Guard.
Painting career
A favourite of the Royal Family, Birley was well known for his portraits of King George V, Queen Mary, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and Queen Elizabeth II.
He painted several highly regarded portraits of Sir Winston Churchill (to whom he also gave lessons), and also a life-size portrait of Mahatma Gandhi which was the first to be hung in the Lok Sabha 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, Bernard Baruch and J. P. Morgan, the psychiatrist Sir James Crichton-Browne, Welsh architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis and art historian Sir Robert Witt, co-founder of the Courtauld Institute of Art. Birley painted the portrait of Leeds Lord Mayor Sir Charles Lupton (1855–1935).
Birley was knighted in 1949.
A major retrospective exhibition of Birley's work was held at the Philip Mould & Company gallery on Pall Mall in 2007.
Ernest Rutherford 1932.jpg|Portrait of Ernest Rutherford by Birley (1936) Copy by John Leigh-Pemberton of a portrait by Sir Oswald Birley, the original being the property of White's Club, St. James', London, SW1 Art.IWMARTLD5916.jpg|Portrait of Harold Alexander by Birley (1945)
Personal life
thumb|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 (1890–1954). She later married John McKendry, the curator of prints and photographs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Mark Birley (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 (born 1961). Other descendants include the fashion designer and muse Loulou de la Falaise (1948–2011), who was married to Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin (1937–2011), and later to Thadée Klossowski de Rola, a French writer who is the younger son of the painter Balthus (1908–2001). Loulou de la Falaise's niece is the fashion model Lucie de la Falaise (born 1973).
References
References
- {{acad
- "Entry on Birley family genealogy".
- {{London Gazette. (4 May 1915)
- {{London Gazette. (28 December 1917)
- (7 May 1952). "SIR OSWALD BIRLEY, NOTED PORTRAITIST: Artist Who Painted Members of British Royalty and LeadingI World Figures Dies at 72". [[The New York Times]].
- "MAHATMA GANDHI (1869–1948)". [[Lok Sabha]].
- John Steegman, (1957), ''A Survey of Portraits in Welsh Houses'', page 240 (The National Museum of Wales)
- "Sir Robert Witt". Art UK.
- Reed, Michael. (5 April 2013). "Duchess of Cambridge not posh? Her ancestor was lord mayor of Leeds". [[The Guardian]].
- (2007). "The Life and Works of Sir Oswald Birley MC". [[Philip Mould.
- (2007). "Power & Beauty: The Art of Sir Oswald Birley". Philip Mould & Company.
- "Rhoda (née Lecky Pike), Lady Birley". npg.org.uk.
- (1 May 2009). "Maxime de la Falaise, model, Designer and Muse, Is Dead at 86". The New York Times.
- (1952). "Burke's Landed Gentry".
- (8 May 2009). "Maxime de la Falaise". The Guardian.
- Orth, Maureen. (1 February 2008). "Hurly Birley". [[Vanity Fair (magazine).
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