Bendor Grosvenor | |
|---|---|
 Grosvenor in 2012 | |
| Born | Bendor Gerard Robert Grosvenor (1977-11-27)27 November 1977 (age 47) |
| Nationality | British & Swiss |
| Education | Harrow School |
| Alma mater | University of East Anglia Pembroke College, Cambridge |
| Occupations | |
| Website | www |
Bendor Gerard Robert Grosvenor (born 27 November 1977) is a Britishart historian, writer and formerart dealer. He is known for discovering a number of importantlost artworks by Old Master artists, including SirPeter Paul Rubens,Claude Lorrain andPeter Brueghel the Younger.[1] As a dealer he specialised in Old Masters, with a particular interest inAnthony van Dyck.
Grosvenor was born on 27 November 1977 in London. His parents areThe Honourable Richard Alexander Grosvenor and Gabriella Grosvenor.
The name Bendor is derived from theGrosvenor family's medieval heraldic shield,a bend or, a goldenbend (diagonal stripe), which they used until 1389, when it was ruled that the Scrope family had a better claim to it, in the caseScrope v Grosvenor.Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, was nicknamed "Bendor".
Grosvenor is a grandson ofRobert Grosvenor, 5th Baron Ebury,[2] and fifth cousin ofHugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster.[3] He is also ofSwiss and Dutch heritage.[4] His father's eldest half-brother isFrancis Grosvenor, 8th Earl of Wilton.[5]
Grosvenor was educated atHarrow School before attending theUniversity of East Anglia for hisBA. He then received anMPhil fromPembroke College, Cambridge and aPhD from the University of East Anglia.[6] His PhD thesis was entitled"The Politics of Foreign Policy: Lord Derby and the Eastern Crisis, 1875-8".[7]
Before becoming an art historian, Grosvenor worked in politics as an adviser, first to theLabourMPTony Banks (later Lord Stratford) and then to theConservative MPHugo Swire (now Lord Swire).
His first major art discovery was a mis-catalogued portrait bySir Thomas Lawrence being sold at a London auction in 2003 as a work by Lawrence's pupilGeorge Henry Harlow.[8] From 2005 until 2014, he worked forPhilip Mould Ltd,[7] where he made a number of significant art historical discoveries, including lost works by artists such as SirJoshua Reynolds,Thomas Gainsborough, andSir Anthony van Dyck, on whom he is an acknowledged specialist.[7] In 2016 he sold a newly identified portrait byJoan Carlile, the first professional British female artist, to theTate gallery.[9]
In 2017, he discovered the"lost portrait" of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham atPollok House,Glasgow, Scotland. The painting was thought to be a copy of a painting byFlemish artistPeter Paul Rubens that had been lost for nearly 400 years, but after restoration was found to be the original by Rubens.[10]
Grosvenor has been a member of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Council on National Records and Archives, and the Lord Chancellor's Forum for Historical Manuscripts and Academic Research.[11] He also works as a journalist and writer, and presents programmes for BBC2'sThe Culture Show.
From 2011 to 2016 he carried out specialist research for, and appeared in, theBBC1 art programmeFake or Fortune?.[12] He now presents, withEmma Dabiri (Jacky Klein in Series 1), theBBC4 seriesBritain's Lost Masterpieces,[13] which began in 2016.[14]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21, he and his wife Ishbel investigated the route of theRoman road known asDere Street throughLauderdale in theScottish Borders.[15]
He was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as an adult, and has advocated improved accessibility at museums.[16]
Grosvenor has made a special study of Jacobite portraiture. In 2009 he proved the Scottish National Portrait Gallery's iconic portrait ofCharles Edward Stuart byMaurice Quentin de La Tour was in fact a portrait of Charles' brotherHenry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York.[17]
In 2013 he discovered thelost portrait of Charles Edward Stuart by Scottish artistAllan Ramsay atGosford House, the home of theEarl of Wemyss nearEdinburgh.[18] This portrait is now on display at theScottish National Portrait Gallery, and has taken the place of the La Tour pastel as the definitive portrait of Charles.[19]
Grosvenor is a second cousin nine times removed to both Jacobite Princes, since he is a descendant of KingCharles II andLouise de Kérouaille. Specifically Bendor's great-grandfather wasJohn Yarde-Buller, 3rd Baron Churston, a descendant of Charles and Henry's male-line second cousinCharles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond.
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In 2015, he married Ishbel Hall; he has one daughter and two step-sons.[6]
