Edward Seago
Portrait of Jeremy Spenser, 1953
Oil on canvas
30 1/4 x 25 in / 77 x 63.5 cm
Signed 'Edward Seago' (upper left); inscribed 'JEREMY SPENSER IN/"THE INNOCENTS"' (on the canvas overlap)
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Seago first met the actor Jeremy Spenser (B. 1937) in 1952, after seeing him perform in William Archibald's stage adaptation of The Innocents based on Henry James' novel, The Turn...
Seago first met the actor Jeremy Spenser (B. 1937) in 1952, after seeing him perform in William Archibald's stage adaptation of The Innocents based on Henry James' novel, The Turn of the Screw. The present work is Seago's first portrait of the actor while he held this theatre role at the age of 15. Spencer became close friends with Seago, sitting for portraits on several occasions.
Spenser made his screen debut at the age of 11 in Anna Karenina (1948), and appeared alongside Laurence Olivier, Marylin Munroe and Orson Welles.
Spenser made his screen debut at the age of 11 in Anna Karenina (1948), and appeared alongside Laurence Olivier, Marylin Munroe and Orson Welles.
Provenance
A gift from the artist to Jeremy Spenser (circa 1953).Exhibitions
London, Royal Institute Galleries, Royal Society of Portrait Painters: Sixtieth Annual Exhibition, November - December 1953, no. 150.Literature
F. W. Hawcroft, Edward Seago: A Review of the Years 1953-1964, London, 1965, n.p., pl. 76.J. Goodman, Edward Seago: The Other Side of the Canvas, London, 1978, n.p., illustrated.