Chris Beetles Gallery

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Lord Randolph Churchill

Lib (Liborio Prosperi) (1854-1928)

Price

£6,500

Signed

Signed and dated 1893

Medium

Watercolour on tinted paper

Dimensions

12 ¾ x 8 ¼ inches

Illustrated

Drawn for but not illustrated in Vanity Fair, 1893

Literature

Chris Beetles & Alexander Beetles (eds.) Portraits of Vanity Fair: The Charles Sigety Collection, London: Chris Beetles Ltd, 2023, page 197

Exhibited

'Portraits of Vanity Fair: The Charles Sigety Collection', Chris Beetles Gallery, London, October-November 2023, no 97

The father of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Lord Randolph Churchill (1849-1895) first rose to prominence in the House of Commons as a member of what became known as the ‘Fourth Party’, a group of young Conservatives extremely critical of not only the Liberal opposition but also the Conservative front bench. In 1880, Churchill appeared in a caricature by Spy in Vanity Fair as part of this group, along with Sir Henry Drummond-Wolff, Sir John Gorst and Arthur Balfour. Churchill’s first cabinet position was Secretary of State for India from 1885 to 1886 under Lord Salisbury. On 3 August 1886 he was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons. He held these positions until December of the same year, when he suddenly resigned.

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