Portrait of Lord Leverhulme
Frank Denton, Artist
This is one of the
photographs
in our collection.
It was made in
Whanganui, Whanganui Region, New Zealand
in circa 1920.
See full details
Object Detail
About the Work
“Again
I
have
chosen
to
honour
Frank
Denton
by
including
another
of
his
photographs.
The
subject
matter
is
of
particular
interest
to
me.
Lord
Leverhulme
came
to
New
Zealand
during
the
construction
of
the
Sarjeant
Gallery
which
opened
in
1919.
He
was
on
a
mission
to
buy
tallow
for
his
soap
company.
During
the
six
months
or
so
in
New
Zealand
he
met
Henry
Sarjeant
and
he
donated
some
very
valuable
artworks
both
to
the
Sarjeant
Gallery
and
to
the
Auckland
Art
Gallery.
You
can
view
these
beautiful
works
by
searching
the
collection
on
the
Sarjeant
website
(https://collection.sarjeant.org.nz/).
By the way Lord Leverhulme’s soap company made Sunlight Soap which later morphed in to the Unilever global brand. I have visited Port Sunlight just south of Liverpool where his manufacturing plant was located and all his staff were housed. The village is truly beautiful and pays tribute to his business ethics and kindness to those who surrounded him and helped create his empire. The 900 homes are lovely and surrounded by park like grounds, a huge lake with fountains, a Museum, two Schools, a hospital and shops selling essential items. The reason I visited was to view the Lady Lever Museum Art Gallery, built in honour of his wife who died too young. Like Henry Sarjeant he was a mason and like the Sarjeant Gallery the Lady Lever Gallery was built in the form of a Greek cross and constructed of stone. The difference is, this gallery has 2 domes and is somewhat larger. I think it is extraordinary that Lord Leverhulme came all this way to New Zealand, bought agricultural product to ship home and donated fabulous artwork for the future posterity of our public institutions. His legacy continues today and his substantial businesses, land holdings and collections of note are managed by his descendants. Whilst the Head Office of Unilever is no longer located at Port Sunlight, the company R&D activities still take place there.”
- Nicola Williams MNZM, Chairman of the Sarjeant Gallery Trust Board, for the July 2021 instalment of the My Choice exhibition series.
By the way Lord Leverhulme’s soap company made Sunlight Soap which later morphed in to the Unilever global brand. I have visited Port Sunlight just south of Liverpool where his manufacturing plant was located and all his staff were housed. The village is truly beautiful and pays tribute to his business ethics and kindness to those who surrounded him and helped create his empire. The 900 homes are lovely and surrounded by park like grounds, a huge lake with fountains, a Museum, two Schools, a hospital and shops selling essential items. The reason I visited was to view the Lady Lever Museum Art Gallery, built in honour of his wife who died too young. Like Henry Sarjeant he was a mason and like the Sarjeant Gallery the Lady Lever Gallery was built in the form of a Greek cross and constructed of stone. The difference is, this gallery has 2 domes and is somewhat larger. I think it is extraordinary that Lord Leverhulme came all this way to New Zealand, bought agricultural product to ship home and donated fabulous artwork for the future posterity of our public institutions. His legacy continues today and his substantial businesses, land holdings and collections of note are managed by his descendants. Whilst the Head Office of Unilever is no longer located at Port Sunlight, the company R&D activities still take place there.”
- Nicola Williams MNZM, Chairman of the Sarjeant Gallery Trust Board, for the July 2021 instalment of the My Choice exhibition series.
Measurements
Image 460 x 338mm
Frame 840 x 648mm
Frame 840 x 648mm
Media
silver gelatin print
Description
Black and white portrait head and shoulders photographic portrait of William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, a clean shaven man wearing a dark suit with a bow tie.
Credit Line
Collection of the Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui. Gift of the Leverhulme Family
Collection Type
Permanent collection
Acquisition Date
Circa 1930
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Nationality:
Accession Number:
1994/97/1