Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell

Image credit: National Portrait Gallery, London

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Grandson of the Liberal Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister, Earl (Lord John) Russell, he published his first work, An Essay on the Foundations of Geometry (1897), at the age of 25. This was followed by The Principles of Mathematics (1903) and Principia Mathematica (1910–1913). A pacifist during the First World War, he was imprisoned in 1918. Russell gave the first Reith lectures on radio in 1949. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950, and became the first President of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in 1958.
Subdued in palette and the handling of paint, Fry's portrait is notable for its clarity, directness and understatement. These qualities seem appropriate for a likeness of a philosopher who admired the 'supreme beauty' of mathematics – 'cold and austere'.

National Portrait Gallery, London

London

Title

Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell

Date

c.1923

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 54 x W 45.1 cm

Accession number

4832

Acquisition method

Purchased, 1970

Work type

Painting

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