Portrait of Frank Pick

This oil painting was commissioned by London transport in 1958, to honour the memory of its former vice-chairman Frank Pick. Pick died in 1941. The chosen artist was Patrick Larking, a distinguished member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Oils. For Larking, building up a profile of the appearance and character of his subject was an important part of the creative process. He studied a variety of photos of Pick taken at different stages of his life. He also talked to those at London Transport who had known him well. The finished painting hung in the chairman's office at 55 Broadway. The chairman at the time was Sir John Elliott, and he unveiled the painting on 31 March 1958. This is an extract from his speech: 'We do not perpetuate Frank Pick's memory by hanging his portrait in this room, for the true memorial to a man's work is not in stone or paint, but in men's minds, in the inspiration which springs from his name, and the example and tradition which down the years it feeds to all who enter the service he adorned. Nonetheless, this famous room takes on added lustre from this portrait, and it is in that spirit that we welcome it, and will cherish it here.'