Alec Martin
Sir Alec Martin (1884-1971) was a British art historian, art patron and early Managing Director of the auction house Christie's.
Career
[edit]Martin started as an office boy at Christie's in 1897, working his way up the ranks during a tenure spanning more than six decades. He was made partner in 1931 and Managing Director in 1940, a key position which he held until his retirement in 1958.[1]
Knighted in 1934, Martin held a number of posts in the cultural landscape of the British Isles, as a trustee of the Wallace Collection and honorary secretary of the National Art Collections Fund (now known as the Art Fund). He also served as a governor of the National Gallery of Ireland, securing an important addition to its collections by persuading his friend Hugh Lane to make a bequest. His own donation to Dublin included his portrait bust by Jacob Epstein.[2]
He was a friend and executor of Walter Sickert, and he commissioned him in 1935 to paint portraits of himself,[3] his wife[4] and youngest son Claude[5] (all now Tate Britain [clarification needed]). The British Museum asked him to bid on its behalf for works by William Blake, one of numerous acts of support for museums in the UK and Ireland.[1]
His grandson is the art historian Gregory Martin (born 1938), who worked at the National Gallery and at Christie's.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Sir Alec Martin". British Museum.
- ^ "Sir Alec Martin". Hugh Lane Gallery.
- ^ "Walter Richard Sickert, 'Sir Alec Martin, KBE' 1935 (The Camden Town Group in Context)". Tate Britain.
- ^ "'Lady Martin', Walter Richard Sickert, 1935". Tate Britain.
- ^ "'Claude Phillip Martin', Walter Richard Sickert, 1935". Tate Britain.