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Portrait of Denis Compton (1918 – 1997), 1949
Bernard Hailstone (1910 – 1987)
Oil on canvas
Having first came to prominence as a dashing, sometimes unorthodox batsman in the 1930s, former Middlesex captain and England batsman Denis Compton’s performances in the golden summer of 1947, scoring 3,816 first-class runs, raised him to greatness. He toured Australia for the 1950-51 Ashes series as vice-captain and became the first professional to captain the MCC for an entire game. In 1953 he struck the winning runs that reclaimed the Ashes for England after twenty years. He was also an accomplished footballer who played most of his career at Arsenal.
Hailstone trained at Goldsmiths College of Art and the Royal Academy Schools. He is known for his Second World War portraits of civil servants and his post-war portraits of the royal family and actors.
MCC Collections: Donated by Clare's Court School, Maidenhead
M.1992.TN.70
