This portrait of Reginald Baliol Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher (1852-1930), initiated a friendship between the artist and the sitter, resulting in the commission of a second, informal half-length portrait. The later portrait was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1927 and also joined the collection of the sitter, as it was gifted by Philpot.

The present lot, painted in 1922, exemplifies Philpot’s skill as an Edwardian portraitist. It was only after a sudden move to Paris in 1931 that Philpot shifted his focus to a more expressive style of portraiture, using colour to express emotion and atmosphere. However, even before this transition in stylistic approach, Philpot’s portraits retained the ability to capture his sitters’ moods. Robin Gibson reflects on how Philpot achieved ‘[…] a sympathetic likeness with the splendour of the robes of the Order of the Bath’ (Glyn Philpot 1884-1937: Edwardian Aesthete to Thirties Modernist, London, 1984, p.62).

Philpot was a successful painter of British and American society portraits in the years before the First World War, painting figures such as Siegfried Sassoon, Sir Oswald Mosley, Stanley Baldwin and the King of Egypt. Success in his early career led to his acceptance as Royal Academician and appointment as trustee for the Tate Gallery.