Talk given by Professor Charles Raab at the ScottishArts Club 2nd September 2023. You can view the slides from the talk here and see the recording of it here.
When two framed pencil drawings were found in the Club’s permanent collection storeroom, they presented a puzzle. Clearly signed ‘T. Lawrence’, the Club’s inventory said they were by an ‘unknown artist’. Suspecting that they were drawn by (Sir) Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) at the age of 10, and following months of searching for clues in the Club’s archive, leading experts were consulted and the drawings were authenticated.
In this illustrated talk, Charles Raab discusses the journey of his detective work, the drawings themselves, and their placement within Lawrence’s meteoric career from child prodigy to the leading English portraitist of his day. Now reframed and re-hung in the Club, some mysteries still surround these works: why are they here? how did they get here? why were they mislabelled and unrecognised?
Brief CV
Club member Charles Raab is Professor Emeritus of Government at the University of Edinburgh, and has conducted and published research in several fields of public policy and regulation. He also serves in advisory capacities in Scottish and UK Governments.