Books

Aubrey Beardsley

Enoch Soames, esq. 1896.

William Rothenstein 1872-1945.
Pastel. 38 x 27.5 cm.
Signed and dated “W.R. ’95.” Exhibited at The New English Art Club.

Beerbohm, in his key essay in Seven Men, has recorded the strange way in which Rothenstein's well-known drawing of Soames came about. Clearly there was little liking between these two so very different men of the era. This makes it all the more curious that the artist should have depicted Soames on more than one occasion.
    This was long considered to be the only likeness of the poet; the extent to which it differs from the other recently discovered portraits merely seems to confirm that Soames was not only dim but also, perhaps to a degree, chameleon-like as he moved among his more famous contemporaries.

Collection of Lawrence Mynott, esq.