At last, a good photograph of the poor portrait at Caius. Graham, the author of this piece in History Today, I know had been frustrated by the reflecting glass. Not a great painting: glad we didn’t use it for the Companion. Given the dearth of Oakeshott images, no doubt this one will be over used. It’s unfortunate that Oakeshott was lumbered with the Artist in Residence at Caius (1983-84). The artist doesn’t have a shot of this on his website – now I can see why. As someone put it to me so well:
Yes, I have seen Paul Gopal-Chowdhury’s Caius portrait of MO, in the flesh, here in Cambridge. It’s awful, and would seriously put off potential buyers. MO didn’t like it at all, and I think that wasn’t just vanity. It’s done in a smeary sub-modernist style, and is ridiculously portentous, with, if I remember rightly, the aged MO in profile sitting at a table and staring glumly at a potted plant, possibly watching it grow.
manwithoutqualities 