portrait of dorothy hodgkin, o.m., f.r.s

Portrait of Dorothy Hodgkin, O.M., F.R.S.Author(s): John CornforthSource: Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Aug., 1982), pp. 1-4Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/531473 .

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I

PORTRAIT OF DOROTHY HODGKIN, O.M., F.R.S.

By SIRJOHN CORNFORTH, F.R.S.

O N 25 March I982 a portrait of Dorothy Hodgkin, painted by Bryan Organ, was accepted by the President on behalf of the Royal Society

for exhibition in the Society's rooms at Carlton House Terrace. This gift to the Society came principally by private subscription from 181 Fellows and Foreign Members, along with three of the Society's senior office staff and four non-Fellows who heard of the project. Some firms and institutions also made contributions, acknowledged at the end of this article. The project took five years from conception to fruition, and has enriched the Society's collection in more ways than one. The story seems worth telling.

Until now, the Society has had no portrait of a woman Fellow, and no better subject to remedy this deficiency could be imagined. Council, when approached on the matter, could not offer sponsorship or finance but did not discourage a voluntary effort. A circular appeal to all Fellows and Foreign members was accordingly distributed by the Society in October I977. Approval of the idea, and indication of the extent of support, were invited. At the same time similar letters were sent to a number of firms and institutions.

Support was so freely and widely expressed that subscriptions could be called for almost at once, and the Portrait Fund soon exceeded the upper range of its target. By the beginning of 1978 the question of finding a painter began to loom large. A small committee consisting of Sir David Phillips, Sec. R.S., Sir Rex Richards, F.R.S. and the writer considered the suggestions of subscribers and met for a discussion at Oxford in May I978. Graham Sutherland, O.M., had been suggested as the painter and luckily he knew Dorothy: they had met on more than one occasion and they liked each other. Lord Goodman gave valuable help in the matter and, in the event, Graham Sutherland agreed to paint the portrait. But it was a long time-too long, alas-before painter and sitter could be brought together.

Meanwhile Rex Richards had been active in a related matter. The subject of Henry Moore, O.M., had come up during our discussion; particularly, his studies of hands. Dorothy's hands are exceptional; deformed by arthritis when she was a child, they are yet capable of the most delicate work. Henry Moore was approached and to our great pleasure he met Dorothy and did several drawings of her hands in July 1978. One of these he very kindly presented to the Royal Society, and at a luncheon in the Society's apartments on 25 April



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1979 the then President, Lord Todd, F.R.S., accepted the drawing from the artist on behalf of the Society.

In September 1979 Dorothy spent four days with Graham Sutherland who made many sketches and photographs. We had reports of the pleasure that both artist and subject took in the work. Graham Sutherland's last illness, however, came on him that winter and the portrait was never completed. Two sketches were delivered to the Society shortly before his death on 17 February 1980. Both of them, the last work of a master hand, showed how great was our



Plate i.

DOROTHY HODGKIN, O.M., F.R.S. By Bryan Organ

Facing page 2



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loss. One of them now hangs, along with Henry Moore's drawing, in the corridor outside the President's room in the Society's apartments; Dorothy has the other.

We had already had it in mind to ask Bryan Organ to paint the portrait had Graham Sutherland declined. Once again we were fortunate, in securing Bryan Organ's acceptance; once again it was a long time before the necessary contact could be arranged! All was well in the end, however; and the long wait seems justified by the result, which has delighted all who have seen it. The

accompanying illustration, from a colour transparency taken by the artist, gives an impression of the portrait which we hope that all subscribers and others interested will confirm by viewing the original painting at Carlton House Terrace.



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Acknowledgement is made here of firms and institutions which supported the Fund: Glaxo Holdings Ltd; IBM United Kingdom Ltd; I.C.I. Ltd; Roche Products Ltd; Royal Society of Chemistry; Shell Research Ltd; Somerville College, Oxford; Wellcome Foundation Ltd; Wolfson Foundation. We are also grateful to Mr Rene Claudot and Shell Research Ltd for the layout and printing of the original appeal.



portrait of dorothy hodgkin, o.m., f.r.s

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