Colonel (later Brigadier Sir) John Kinninmont Dunlop, Assistant Adjutant General of the Territorial Army 1937

Arthur Pan painted this portrait of Colonel John Kinninmont Dunlop with oils, at some point we don't know. Looking at the Colonel’s kind face, I imagine Arthur Pan working patiently, mixing flesh tones on his palette, trying to capture not just a likeness, but the essence of this military man. He is a good looking man, but the painting feels rather formal and stiff. Perhaps Pan was aiming for a sense of dignity and authority? The red accents around the collar and draped over his coat are very beautiful and striking, and the gold ring on his finger suggests a life of accomplishment, and, I don’t know, a bit of class consciousness? Paintings like this are always a balancing act. It’s as if Pan is speaking to all the portrait painters who came before, and who will come after. I always feel like the painter is looking at other paintings in their head as they work! It’s an ongoing conversation, where ideas keep circulating, being reborn in new and surprising ways. And, like this portrait, it always brings the past into the present.