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Lot Essay
Frank Salisbury established a reputation as one of the leading portrait painters of the day. His illustrious career included a distinguished clientele in the United States as well as in Britain. Among his sitters, he numbered five presidents of the United States, five British prime-ministers, three archbishops of Canterbury and several members of the British Royal Family. He became a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 1917 and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours in 1921.
In his memoirs, Portrait and Pageant, published in 1944, he devotes a chapter to India, a country he never visited. His commission to work on the twelve lunette panels for the great hall of the Victoria Memorial in Calcutta brought him in touch with the India Office and many distinguished Indians. Salisbury describes the day Sir Rajendra Mookerjee brought with him to the studio three Indian princesses, 'so beautiful that I could not resist asking them to sit for me. With their black and gold and rich green saris, they made an enchanting group, and rarely have I found a picture go so well and straightforwardly. The calm serenity of the Indian spirit is well seen in these three Sen Sisters; it seemed to me as they sat there that out of their dark eyes flashed the light of the East'.
The picture was much admired at the Royal Academy and later in America where a patron seeing it in the Duveen exhibition in New York asked if he could donate it to the Metropolitan Museum. By the time the request came through, the picture had been shipped to the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool who said that they themselves wished to acquire the portrait for their present collection. Having been informed it was too late, the picture was duly returned to New York where it remained in the Metropolitan Museum for six weeks, during which time a rule was passed making it impossible for the museum to accept a work by a living artist. Lord Duveen also showed interest in acquiring the picture for the Tate Gallery but the committee voted against its acceptance. Salisbury's wife ranked the portrait as one of his best and in his memoirs he mentions that she was anxious that the Metropolitan Museum should display it after his death. The artist returned the picture to his home in England where its claim to fame lay in having nearly hung in three great art galleries. In 1954 the artist donated the picture to the Metropolitan Museum.
The sitters portrayed are Srilata, Arathi and Anjali Sen, the daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Nirmal Sen. Their grandfather was Keshub Chandra Sen, a distinguished Hindu preacher and one of the founders of the Brahmo religious movement. Their aunt was Suniti Devi who, at the age of 14, was married off to the Maharaja of Cooch Behar in 1878. She became a favourite of the British aristocracy and made Queen Victoria godmother to her son Victor. Suniti's son Jit, first cousin to the Sen sisters married Indira, a daughter of the Maharaja of Baroda and a renowned beauty of her age.
In his memoirs, Portrait and Pageant, published in 1944, he devotes a chapter to India, a country he never visited. His commission to work on the twelve lunette panels for the great hall of the Victoria Memorial in Calcutta brought him in touch with the India Office and many distinguished Indians. Salisbury describes the day Sir Rajendra Mookerjee brought with him to the studio three Indian princesses, 'so beautiful that I could not resist asking them to sit for me. With their black and gold and rich green saris, they made an enchanting group, and rarely have I found a picture go so well and straightforwardly. The calm serenity of the Indian spirit is well seen in these three Sen Sisters; it seemed to me as they sat there that out of their dark eyes flashed the light of the East'.
The picture was much admired at the Royal Academy and later in America where a patron seeing it in the Duveen exhibition in New York asked if he could donate it to the Metropolitan Museum. By the time the request came through, the picture had been shipped to the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool who said that they themselves wished to acquire the portrait for their present collection. Having been informed it was too late, the picture was duly returned to New York where it remained in the Metropolitan Museum for six weeks, during which time a rule was passed making it impossible for the museum to accept a work by a living artist. Lord Duveen also showed interest in acquiring the picture for the Tate Gallery but the committee voted against its acceptance. Salisbury's wife ranked the portrait as one of his best and in his memoirs he mentions that she was anxious that the Metropolitan Museum should display it after his death. The artist returned the picture to his home in England where its claim to fame lay in having nearly hung in three great art galleries. In 1954 the artist donated the picture to the Metropolitan Museum.
The sitters portrayed are Srilata, Arathi and Anjali Sen, the daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Nirmal Sen. Their grandfather was Keshub Chandra Sen, a distinguished Hindu preacher and one of the founders of the Brahmo religious movement. Their aunt was Suniti Devi who, at the age of 14, was married off to the Maharaja of Cooch Behar in 1878. She became a favourite of the British aristocracy and made Queen Victoria godmother to her son Victor. Suniti's son Jit, first cousin to the Sen sisters married Indira, a daughter of the Maharaja of Baroda and a renowned beauty of her age.