Painting of Sir Archibald McIndoe

Cuthbert Orde, 1960
Dimensions: 50cm x 70cm
Material: Oil on Canvas

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Painting of Sir Archibald McIndoe Audio MP3 File

Within the Ballroom at Bentley Priory Museum hangs an oil painting of Second World War plastic surgeon, Sir Archibald McIndoe.

This portrait, presented in a plain gold and beige frame, is approximately one meter high by half a meter wide. McIndoe, a white gentleman with greying hair in his fifties, is depicted looking at the viewer with a neutral expression, his head and shoulders in frame. He is wearing a dark suit and tie and round glasses, and there is a sage green natural coloured textured background.

A pioneer in his field, McIndoe reinvented the ways in which burn victims were treated. A great number of pilots suffered terrible burns, and McIndoe’s new treatments and revolutionary plastic surgery improved their chances of regaining their lives. As well as this, McIndoe realised the importance of nurturing these men emotionally, and so the Guinea Pig Club was born. He understood that a requirement of recovery was ensuring that these young men, often adapting to new physical appearances, were supported emotionally to reintegrate them back into society.

This oil portrait was painted in 1960 by British war artist, Cuthbert Julian Orde, a veteran of the First World War.