The indestructible Adrien Carton de Wiart VC painted by William Orpen in 1919, seen today at the National Portrait Gallery, London. He threw his glass eye out of a taxi window after he was obliged to wear one for a War Office interview.
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His character can be inferred from his autobiography which goes into great detail about his hunting exploits in the ‘Sporting Paradise’ that was Poland but neglects to mention the fact he was awarded a V.C.
I wrote half a chapter on Carton de Wiart for John Keegan's edited 'Churchill's Generals' - one of my first publications. Other half of chapter was on Edward (Louis) Spears.
I think there was some distribution of the official paintings, so not everything went to IWM. I know NPG also has a portrait of Montgomery on loan which feels, to me, very IWM-ish, but was apparently a private commission by Monty himself.
Yes the NPG label indicates that Monty commissioned his portrait in 1945 and it was loaned by his son in 1977. The Orpen credit is 'Given by wish of Charles Cheers Wakefield, 1st Viscount Wakefield, 1968'.
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