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

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

  1. ^ a b c "Sir Alec Martin". British Museum.
  2. ^ "Sir Alec Martin". Hugh Lane Gallery.
  3. ^ "Walter Richard Sickert, 'Sir Alec Martin, KBE' 1935 (The Camden Town Group in Context)". Tate Britain.
  4. ^ "'Lady Martin', Walter Richard Sickert, 1935". Tate Britain.
  5. ^ "'Claude Phillip Martin', Walter Richard Sickert, 1935". Tate Britain.