25.
CHARLES FRANCIS BELL
By an unknown photographer, c. 1920
Vintage print
C. F. Bell (1871-1966) became Assistant Keeper at the Ashmolean Museum in 1896, the
year that the Lawrence family moved to Oxford. Bell was particularly interested in
medieval ceramics. When Lawrence began to bring fragments of pottery into the Ashmolean
for identification he consulted Bell, and they frequently used to discuss medieval art and
architecture.
In 1909 Bell was appointed head of the Fine Art Department and after this their
contacts were less frequent. In questions of artistic taste their judgements were very
different. Bell had firm views on the work of contemporary artists, and as a result
Lawrence was discouraged form his original intention of presenting all the portraits and
illustrations he had commissioned for Seven Pillars of Wisdom to the Ashmolean.
Eventually two of them, Augustus John’s oil portrait of Feisal (no.98) and
charcoal sketch of D. G. Hogarth (no. 50) were presented to the Museum after Bell had
retired.
The Visitors of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (1970/36)
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