During World War II, he was commissioned in the Intelligence Corps and joined the diplomatic service as an Attaché de Presse in the British embassies of Baghdad and Cairo. He resigned in 1948 to become a full-time portrait painter and in 1949 had his first one-man show in London and exhibited at the Royal Academy.
A period of global travel was followed by ten years painting in the United States (New York and Washington D.C.) His exhibition at the Washington gallery was opened by the then British Ambassador, the Earl of Cromer, formerly Governor of the Bank of England. In the early 1960s, he spent time in Cambridge doing portraits of college luminaries and also for local families. After he returned to England in 1976, Tollast divided his time among Switzerland, France (Paris) and Italy (Milan and Florence) and Austria (Vienna) with occasional visits to Germany.
During long visits to South Africa, he painted three generations of the Oppenheimer family, among other prominent figures in industry. His work was exhibited in 1959 in the Africana Museum (now MuseuMAfricA) in Newtown, Johannesburg.[2]
The list of Tollast's most interesting portrait commissions includes clients internationally prominent in the arts, sciences, industry and politics, of which one of the most notable is that of Sir Winston Churchill. This was the last official portrait, of which the sitter — notoriously difficult over portraits of himself — went on record to express his approval.
Tollast's recent commission was to paint, in oil, all the partners of the partners of the Geneva private bank Lombard Odier & Cie. He also works in watercolour and pastel and is a notably successful painter of children.[citation needed]
robert, tollast, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, february, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Robert Tollast news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2024 Learn how and when to remove this message Robert Tollast ne Robert Malcolm Priestly Tollast 1915 2008 was a British painter He was a court painter for the House of Habsburg Robert TollastBornRobert Malcolm Priestly Tollast15 September 1915London EnglandDied5 February 2008Wiltshire EnglandNationalityBritishOccupationPainterKnown forPortrait paintingBiography editRobert Malcolm Priestly Tollast was born on 15 September 1915 in Wandsworth London 1 He studied Fine Arts at the Westminster School of Art 1 During World War II he was commissioned in the Intelligence Corps and joined the diplomatic service as an Attache de Presse in the British embassies of Baghdad and Cairo He resigned in 1948 to become a full time portrait painter and in 1949 had his first one man show in London and exhibited at the Royal Academy A period of global travel was followed by ten years painting in the United States New York and Washington D C His exhibition at the Washington gallery was opened by the then British Ambassador the Earl of Cromer formerly Governor of the Bank of England In the early 1960s he spent time in Cambridge doing portraits of college luminaries and also for local families After he returned to England in 1976 Tollast divided his time among Switzerland France Paris and Italy Milan and Florence and Austria Vienna with occasional visits to Germany During long visits to South Africa he painted three generations of the Oppenheimer family among other prominent figures in industry His work was exhibited in 1959 in the Africana Museum now MuseuMAfricA in Newtown Johannesburg 2 The list of Tollast s most interesting portrait commissions includes clients internationally prominent in the arts sciences industry and politics of which one of the most notable is that of Sir Winston Churchill This was the last official portrait of which the sitter notoriously difficult over portraits of himself went on record to express his approval Tollast s recent commission was to paint in oil all the partners of the partners of the Geneva private bank Lombard Odier amp Cie He also works in watercolour and pastel and is a notably successful painter of children citation needed At the time of his death Tollast was royal court painter to the Habsburg family of Austria citation needed His work is included in museum collection at the National Portrait Gallery in London 3 References edit a b Tollast Robert Malcolm Priestly 1915 2008 Artist Biographies UK Retrieved 1 February 2024 The Forum Central News Agency 1959 p 23 via Google Books Robert Tollast National Portrait Gallery UK Retrieved 1 February 2024 External links editNational Portrait Gallery page nbsp This biographical article about a painter from England is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Robert Tollast amp oldid 1201735548, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
