Gerald Leslie Brockhurst RA (31 October 1890 – 4 May 1978) read more here
Born in Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK and was the son of a coal merchant. During the 1930’s and 40’s Brockhurst became a portrait artist, highly sought after by film stars and society figures. His subjects included Marlene Dietrich, Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll and Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor.
It wasn’t until I’d watched the BBC’s ‘A Very British Scandal’, a period drama set in the early 1960’s staring Claire Foy and Paul Bettany, that I discovered Brockhurst’s work. Foy portrayed Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll who Brockhurst pained in 1931 (see below).
Variety described the drama as a: ‘hour-long, three-episode series focuses on the divorce of the Duke (Bettany) and Duchess of Argyll (Foy), one of the most notorious, extraordinary and brutal legal cases of the 20th Century.‘
The Variety article about ‘A Very British Scandal’ can be read here.
The BBC series ‘A Very British Scandal’ can be viewed here.
More examples of Gerald Brockhurt’s work at The Ryal Academy can be found here.
An etching of Ophelia, modelled by Gerald Brockhurst’s second wife, Kathleen Nancy Woodward, and the final finished painting.
