George Rae (banker)

George Rae (21 October 1817– 4 August 1902) was a British banker, Pre-Raphaelite Art Collector, author, businessman, Parliamentary lobbyist, traveler and benefactor based in Liverpool, Birkenhead, and Oxton, Merseyside.

[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] He was a patron of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, commissioning and acquiring works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ford Madox Brown, Arthur Hughes and Edward Burne-Jones.

In 1861, Rae purchased ‘English Autumn Afternoon’ by Ford Madox Brown and ‘Mill on the Alyn, Denbighshire’ by John Edward Newton.

Also, in 1862, Rae bought Rossetti’s ‘Fanny Cornforth’ and ‘The Heart of the Night’ alternately titled: ‘Mariana in the Moated Grange’.

[14] These were, ’The Damsel of the Sanc Grael’ (1857’), ‘Death of Breuse sans Pitié,’ ‘The Chapel before the Lists - Scene from “Morte Darthur” (1857), ‘The Tune of Seven Towers’ (1857), ‘The Blue Closet’ (1857), and ‘Paolo and Francesca da Rimini’ (1855).

He met with Arthur Hughes to commission him to paint ‘In the Grass’ which Rae exhibited later that year at the Liverpool Academy of Arts to oblige the artist.

“I felt rather guilty towards you, if I was removing your favourite single eye, however, everyone thinks the new half face such an immense improvement, but I am sure you will agree in the general verdict.

Flowers are one of the last elements to be painted in gold cup roses from chiffon.” ‘The Beloved’ was exhibited for one day on 21 February 1866 at the Arundel Club (Rossetti had joined the club in 1865), [24] and then it was transported to Rae’s home where in March 1866, the Liverpool merchant John Miller (a fellow Scot) and Frederick Richards Leyland one of the largest British shipowners, visited Rae to view the ‘The Beloved’.

Rossetti's sonnet entitled "Soul's Beauty" describes the subject, Sibyl, seated on a throne and bearing a branch of palm.

Rae focused on upgrading the financial position of the Bank and management, improving the quality of statistical information about the distribution of funds.

He gave a high priority to the selection and training of staff and the efficiency of book-keeping systems and ensured there was a large number of managers and clerks using the Welsh language.

In 1873, Rae sent some of Rossetti’s paintings to him at Kelmscott Manor the Gloucestershire home of Mr and Mrs William Morris - for retouching.

In 1874, a second version of the ‘Damsel of the Sanct Grael’ was painted in oil for Rae, and he had previously purchased ‘Lucrezia Borgia.'

On 2 and 9 October 1875, Frederic George Stephens, an art critic and a non-artistic member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, published a description of many of Rae’s paintings in the weekly periodical The Athenaeum.

The articles confirmed the provenance of the paintings owned by Rae including 15 Rossetti’s, as well Albert Joseph Moore, ‘Dancing Girl Reposing’.

The publication listed paintings by local Birkenhead artist James Campbell, ‘News from my Laddie’ and ‘Thorough Bess’, by Arthur Hughes, the ‘Music Party’, ‘Good Night’ and ‘In the Grass’.

There were 10 paintings by William Davis, ‘Young Trespassers’, ‘Twilight, Bidstone Mill’, ‘The Mersey from Runcorn’, ‘Farm Yard’, ‘Beeches near Allerton’, ‘Early Summer’, ‘Ripe Corn’, ‘The Old House at Hale’, ‘Twilight, Oxton Common’ and ‘Wallasey Mill.’ Rae bought 28 paintings from Davis.

This coincided with Rae spending time in London to meet with Sir Stafford Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh Chancellor of the Exchequer.

On 8 August 1885, The Economist wrote: "We have seldom taken up a book on the business of banking which is at once so interesting and so full of shrewd common sense as this of Mr Rae’s".

[31][32] In the Spring of 1886, acting upon the advice of Dr. Sir William Broadbent, Rae holidayed in the French Riviera accompanied by his wife, daughter Alice, and his son Edward.

His obituary was published in the Liverpool Daily Post on 5 August 1902 and also in The Bankers’ Insurance Managers’ and Agents Magazine, Volume LXXIV September 1902.

In 1916 twelve Rossettis were purchased by the National Gallery, now owned by Tate Britain including ‘The Beloved’ £3,000 and ‘Monna Vanna’ £2,000.