Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Chantrey Bequest
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sir-gerald-kelly-1394" aria-label="More by Sir Gerald Kelly" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Sir Gerald Kelly</a>
Jester W Somerset Maugham
Presented by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest 1933
actions: postures and motions
adults
author
cane / walking stick
chair
clothing and personal items
fine arts and music
furnishings
hat
individuals: male
interiors
literary
man
Maugham, William Somerset
named individuals
objects
people
playwright
plinth
portraits
screen
sculpture
sitting
studio
work and occupations
workspaces
<p>Somerset Maugham was enjoying his first success as a dramatist when his friend Kelly painted this costume portrait. It was not a commission, but was painted for exhibition and sale, with the reputation of Maugham as a bonus. Kelly had just taken smart rooms off Lowndes Square in Belgravia, and chose to emphasise the correct social poise of his sitter, wearing morning dress and grey top hat. The two men were the same age, were both Irish, and had been friends in Paris. Kelly painted Maugham many times through his life, often showing him in character: the title here refers to his famous wit. The portrait served as an advertisement for Kelly's practice, and contrasted with the bohemianism of his rivals William Orpen and Augustus John.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
14 December 2012 – 26 September 2022
2022-09-26
10 December 2012 – 25 September 2022
2022-09-25
2012-12-10
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2012-12-14
Gallery 4
Collection based display
7 April 2014 – 12 October 2014
2014-10-12
7 April 2014 – 12 October 2014
2014-10-12
2014-04-07
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2014-04-07
Forgotten Faces
Collection based display
25 November 2015 – 26 March 2017
2017-03-26
6 October 2016 – 26 March 2017
2017-03-26
2016-10-06
National Gallery of Singapore (Singapore, Singapore)
2015-11-25
Artist and Empire
Loan-out
The Jester (W. Somerset Maugham)
support: 1016 × 762 mm
frame: 1213 × 961 × 113 mm
Presented by the Trustees of the <a href="/search?gid=999999977" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Chantrey Bequest</a> 1933
<p>Somerset Maugham was enjoying his first success as  a dramatist when his friend Kelly painted this  costume <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portrait</span></a>. It was not a commission, but was  painted for exhibition and sale, with the  reputation of Maugham as a bonus. Kelly had just  taken smart rooms off Lowndes Square in Belgravia,  and chose to emphasise the correct social poise of  his sitter, wearing morning dress and grey top  hat. The two men were the same age, were both  Irish, and had been friends in Paris. Kelly  painted Maugham many times through his life,  often showing him in character: the title here  refers to his famous wit. The portrait served as  an advertisement for Kelly's practice, and  contrasted with the bohemianism of his rivals  William Orpen and Augustus John.</p>
Display caption
2004-08-18T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N04703</b> THE JESTER (W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM) 1911
<br/> 
<br/>Not inscribed.
<br/>Canvas, 40×30 (101·5×76).
<br/>Chantrey Purchase from the artist 1933.
<br/><i>Exh:</i> <i>Modern Portrait Painters</i>, R.I., 1912 (25); <i>Contemporary British Art</i>, Whitechapel Art Gallery, October–December 1929 (132); R.A., 1933 (378); R.A. Diploma Gallery, October–December 1957 (272).
<br/><i>Repr:</i> <i>Royal Academy Illustrated</i>, 1933, p.77.</p>
<p>Painted in July 1911 at the artist's studio in 7 William Street. There were thirty to forty sittings. This was the third of many <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portraits</span></a> of Somerset Maugham painted by Kelly. The first, which was destroyed, and the second were painted in 1907, soon after the two became friends. In ‘An 80th Birthday Tribute to Somerset Maugham’ (<i>Sunday Times</i>, 24 January 1954) Kelly wrote: ‘I first met Somerset Maugham in the garden of a villa which his elder brother had taken for the summer at Meudon. I was struck by the fact that his whole face was just one colour - very pale - and that his eyes were like little pieces of brown velvet - like monkey's eyes. I thought he looked very distinguished.’</p>
<p>For later portraits of Somerset Maugham (b. 1874, author and playwright) see Epstein, No.6132, and Sutherland, <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/sutherland-somerset-maugham-n06034" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N06034</span></a>. In the preface to the 1956 edition of <i>The Magician</i>, a novel which deals with artists, he described the reason for his move to Paris about 1904 and says that a few months before this he had made friends with Gerald Kelly. ‘It was he who first made me acquainted with the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/i/impressionism" title="Glossary definition for 'Impressionism'"><span>Impressionists</span></a>, whose pictures had recently been accepted by the Luxembourg.’ In 1919 he published <i>The Moon and Sixpence</i>, based on the life of Gauguin.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, I</p>
<p></p>
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Catalogue entry
2004-10-06T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
actions: postures and motions adults author cane / walking stick chair clothing and personal items fine arts and music furnishings hat individuals: male interiors literary man Maugham, William Somerset named individuals objects people playwright plinth portraits screen sculpture sitting studio work and occupations workspaces