Ludwig Mond

Ludwig Mond was a German-born chemist and industrialist who became one of the wealthiest men in Britain through the Mond Nickel Company and his co-founding of what became ICI. He was also one of the outstanding private art collectors of the Edwardian period, amassing a collection of Italian Renaissance paintings that he bequeathed to the National Gallery. Solomon Joseph Solomon's 1909 portrait captures Mond three years before his death, at an age when his public standing as both industrialist and cultural philanthropist was fully established. Portraits of major collectors and patrons occupy a distinguished place in British art history, and Mond's connection to the Italian Renaissance naturally makes his commemoration in paint particularly resonant.

The 1909 portrait would reflect Solomon's fully mature technique: confident handling of an elderly male sitter with careful attention to the complexity of aged skin, the authority of a prominent figure, and the understated signs of great wealth in dress and bearing.