The Anthony Ludovici portrait of F. M. Alexander
Anthony Ludovici was an English translator and author, who had started out as an artist and illustrator of books. He made a portrait of Alexander in 1926. It is reproduced in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.[1]
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| The Anthony Ludovici portrait. [2] |
The Ruth Beardmore portrait painting of F. M. Alexander
Ruth Beardmore painted a portrait of Alexander around 1946, possibly from a photograph. The painting was given to Alexander who later gave it to Dorothy Drew (Morrison). She trained with Alexander 1946–48 (or –49), and a little later moved to South Africa. The portrait was later acquired by Neil Schapera, a teacher of the Alexander Technique.[3]
Ruth Beardmore was a pupil of Alexander and painted at least one other painting of Alexander. It was painted from photographs she took herself. It is reproduced in the endpapers of the Mouritz edition of The Universal Constant in Living.[4] The whereabouts of this painting are not known.
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The Ruth Beardmore portrait. [5] |
The Colin Colahan portrait painting of F. M. Alexander
For Alexander’s 80th birthday in 1949 a group of friends commissioned Colin Colahan to paint a portrait of Alexander. It is an oil painting, size: 91.3 x 70.8 cm (35.9 x 27.9 in).
Colin Colahan (1897–1987) was an Australian painter and sculptor. He lived in England 1935–58. He also painted a portrait of George Bernard Shaw during this period.[6]
Alexander sat for this painting in 1948, after his stroke in December 1947, and the painting shows how his left side was affected.
The painting was inherited by Alexander’s younger brother, Beaumont Alexander. It was ultimately owned by Nicholas Alexander (son of Beaumont Jr.) who sold it through Sotheby’s Melbourne, Australia, 20 November 2012.
Prior to the sale the portrait featured on BBC 1’s Antiques Roadshow (19 May 2012) where it was valued at £5,000. A clip featuring the portait is available on BBC’s website.[7] [8] It was sold at Sotheby’s for AUD $13,000 hammer price (AUD $15,600 with buyer’s premium, c. GBP £8,220).[9] The buyer is unknown.
A photograph showing Alexander standing in front of this portrait, in Ashley Place, is reproduced in Authorised Summaries of F. M. Alexander’s Four Books.[10]
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| The Colin Colahan portrait.[11] |
The Ronald Searle portrait ink drawing of F. M. Alexander
In 1953 the News Chronicle did an article on Alexander.[12] Ronald Searle, who at that time was working as an illustrator for the Chronicle joined the journalist in visiting and interviewing Alexander.
Ronald Searle was a satirical cartoonist, comics artist, and illustrator. In the 1950s his work featured in Life, Holiday, Punch, The New Yorker, the Sunday Express and the News Chronicle.
Searle gave the original drawing to Alexander. It remained with the family until it was sold by the Estate of F. M. Alexander in 2007 to STAT (The Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique). STAT produced a limited print edition (fifty numbered copies) which was sold to its members.
The drawing is also reproduced, with permission, in the Mouritz edition of The Universal Constant in Living.[13]
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| The Ronald Searle portrait.[14] |
See also Dorothy Drew (Morrison), Anthony Ludovici.
