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William John Leech RHA ROI (1881-1968)
Portrait of May Leech
Oil on canvas, 76 x 61cm (29 x 24”)
Signed
Provenance: Given by the artist to Dr Lucy Wallace and thence by descent to the previous owner
Exhibited: Possibly Dublin, Royal Hibernian Academy, 1964, no. 52
Literature: Denise Ferran, “William John Leech, An Irish Painter Abroad”, P264 No. 96 illustrated P267
(another version of this work)
Leech first met May in London in 1919 through his brother Cecil. May’s first husband Percy Botterell
had been the commercial attaché to Holland during the First World War and on the family’s return to
England, he commissioned several portraits of his family from Leech.May andWilliam immediately fell
in love and started a relationship that was to last 45 years. It was not until 1953 however, after the death
of Percy, that they eventually married.
The present intimate portrait was painted at May’s flat on the fifth floor at 20 Abbey Road, St John’s
Wood, London, where she had lived since her separation from Percy. She is shown peacefully reading
by the window in a quiet image that reflects their typical day to day life together; William would paint
whilst May would occupy herself reading or sewing (see for example “
Darning
”, National Gallery of
Ireland). The present work is one of a series of informal portraits of May reading by the window and a
virtually identical version is at the National Gallery of Ireland entitled
Au Cinquieme
(see picture fol-
lowing). The use of such similar compositions down to the last impastoed brush stroke belies Leech’s
method of reusing subjects and poses that he particularly liked.
In the present work, the composition is heightened by the dramatic angle of the window which looks out
to the surrounding 1930’s style buildings. A more detailed outside view is evident in
Through this Window
(see Ferran, op.cit., p.88, fig.56). The sharp angle helps to reinforce the focus directly on May but also
leads our eye up to the pattern of impastoed leaves and flowers in the upper left corner.
His exhibit “
May Leech - the Fifth Floor
”, exhibited at the RHA in 1964, was the first time that Leech
had used May’s married surname in the title of a portrait. On the labels attached to the frame of the
present work, the artist has clearly referred to his wife by her married name. He aptly then dedicated and
gave the present painting to one of his and May’s good friends at West Clandon, Dr Lucy Wallace (nee
Piggott), an eye doctor and amateur watercolourist.May andWilliam had become friends with Lucy and
her husband Caleb through May’s niece Margaret who was Caleb’s sister-in-law.
We thank Dr. Denise Ferran whose extensive writings on W.J.Leech have formed the basis of this cat-
alogue entry.
€10,000 - 15,000