#New Zealand Colonial Statesmen

[the-paintrist]

Sir James Guthrie - Statesmen of World War I - 1924-30

Work given to the National Portrait Gallery, London in 1930. See source website for additional information. All images in this batch have been confirmed as author died before 1939 according to the official death date listed by the NPG.

The individuals depicted are, from left to right, starting with those seated on the left side of the table:

Sir Joseph Cook, former Prime Minister of Australia (1913–14), Leader of the Opposition (Australia) (1914–1916), Minister for the Navy (1917–20) (with beard)

Billy Hughes, Prime Minister of Australia (1915–23) (head resting on hand)

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George, Chancellor of the Exchequer (1908–1915), Minister of Munitions (1915–1916), Secretary of State for War (1916), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1916–1922)

Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, Secretary of State for War (1918–19) (leaning forward)

William Massey, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1912–25) (seated facing away)

Sir Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty (1911–15), Minister of Munitions (1917–19) (later Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1940–45 and 1951–55) (illuminated)

Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, Foreign Secretary (1905–16) (in profile with aquiline nose)

Standing behind Lloyd George are:

Ganga Singh, Maharaja of Bikaner, only "non-White" member of the Imperial War Cabinet

Louis Botha, Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa (1910–19)

Behind Churchill are:

George Nicoll Barnes, leader of the National Democratic and Labour Party

Sir Robert Borden, Prime Minister of Canada (1911–20)

To their right are:

Arthur Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1902-05); First Lord of the Admiralty (1915–16) and Foreign Secretary (1916–19) (standing adlocutio in a black suit)

Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1908–16) (sitting in front)

Sir Eric Campbell Geddes, First Lord of the Admiralty (1917–19) (behind, cleanshaven)

Andrew Bonar Law, Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom) (1911–15), Secretary of State for the Colonies (1915–16), Chancellor of the Exchequer (1916–19) (later *Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1922–23) (dark moustache)

Edward Morris, 1st Baron Morris, Prime Minister of Newfoundland (1909–17) (white moustache, in the shadows)

Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, Secretary of State for War (1914–1916) (in the shadows)

Sir James Guthrie (10 June 1859 – 6 September 1930) was a Scottish painter, best known in his own lifetime for his portraiture, although today more generally regarded as a painter of Scottish Realism.