A sketch of Sir Harry Lauder by the Scottish Colourist Francis Cadell is to be sold at Bonhams Scottish Art sale in Edinburgh later today which is estimated at £15,000-20,000.
The sketch, The Star, and Beauty Chorus, was made in 1915 and shows Sir Harry in mid song and in trademark highland regalia standing in front of the kilt-clad girls of the chorus line. It almost certainly depicts one of the many recruitment and fund raising concerts which Lauder gave that year. Cadell was the only one of the four Colourist painters to serve in the First World War and saw action on the Western Front with the 9th battalion the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the 9th battalion, the Royal Scots.
Sir Harry Lauder was one of the great stars of the music hall and variety eras and in 1911 was the highest earning performer in the world. Songs such as I love a Lassie, Roamin’ in the Gloamin and Keep Right on to the End of the Road, written in memory of his only son who was killed in France in 1916, made him internationally famous and he toured all over the English speaking world. He was knighted in 1919 for his untiring efforts during the war to raise money for wounded servicemen through the Harry Lauder Million Pound Fund and his morale boosting concerts for the troops.
Francis Cadell had close associations with the theatre. His sister Jean was a well known Scottish actress, appearing in the Ealing comedy Whisky Galore and opposite W C Fields as Mrs Micawber in the 1935 Hollywood version of Great Expectations. Her grandson Simon – Cadell’s great nephew – starred in the hit BBC comedy Hi Di Hi and her granddaughter Selina is also an actor.
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