Recently the Society received a gift of 200 portrait drawings by Frank O. Salisbury (1874-1962), one of the leading society portrait painters of his day, who was the first artist to paint Queen Elizabeth II and who painted Sir Winston Churchill and six US presidents, including his portrait of Franklin D Roosevelt which is the official White House portrait. Salisbury's portraits of Dame Maud McCarthy and Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (King Edward VIII) are currently on display as part of the newly re-opened National Portrait Gallery in London.
Salisbury's drawings were given to the Walpole Society by Philip Mould & Company on behalf of a private collector. We are extremely grateful to both for their generosity, and also to Rosebery's who sold these drawings in their Modern British and 20th Century Art sale on 29 November 2023. The Society received just over £5000 from the sale.
Philip Mould was quoted in the Antiques Trade Gazette: "I've always admired the Walpole Society and what it represents, so I was delighted to be able to assist with the donation of the Frank Salisbury drawings. Institutions like the Walpole Society must be supported." Longstanding Walpole Society supporter Lowell Libson commented that Salisbury was "known for his large-scale canvases of historical events, and it is hugely appropriate that the Walpole Society, which celebrates Horace Walpole's overriding personal interest in antiquarianism and portraiture should benefit from this generous and enlightened gift."