Sir Algernon Edward West (1832-1921) Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue: “Algy”
Sir Leslie Matthew ("Spy") Ward (1851 - 1922)
Colour lithograph
13 August 1892-
About the work
- Location
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Country: UK
City: London
Place: HM Revenue & Customs, 100 Parliament Street
Sir Algernon Edward West, who resigned as Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue in 1892, was caricatured in 'Vanity Fair' that year. The accompanying text explained that West’s Christian name was shortened to ‘Algy’ by members of the Civil Service, a term ‘not necessarily expressive of… affection.’
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About the artist
Leslie Ward was born into a family of painters. His mother and father were historical genre painters Edward Matthew Ward and Henrietta Ward. He was educated at Eton and then entered the studio of architect Sydney Smirke. However, he abandoned his architectural training to become apprenticed to W. P. Frith. In 1873 J. E. Millais sent some of his drawings to Thomas Gibson Bowles, founder and owner of ‘Vanity Fair’. Bowles immediately hired Ward, whose first ‘Vanity Fair’ caricature appeared in 1873 under the ‘nom de crayon’ Spy. Ward also painted portraits and made architectural drawings, exhibiting his work at the Royal Academy and Grosvenor Gallery. He was knighted in 1918. Ward died in 1922 and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London.
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Explore
- Places
- Subjects
- male portrait, moustache, man, 19th century costume, frock coat, trousers, shoe, civil servant, caricature
- Materials & Techniques
- lithograph, colour lithograph
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Details
- Title
- Sir Algernon Edward West (1832-1921) Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue: “Algy”
- Date
- 13 August 1892
- Medium
- Colour lithograph
- Dimensions
- height: 37.20 cm, width: 22.20 cm
- Acquisition
- Transferred from HM Revenue and Customs, December 2012
- Provenance
- Inland Revenue, Somerset House; transferred to GAC 2012
- GAC number
- 15668