Queer Places:
Fort Augustus Abbey Cemetery, Fort Augustus PH32 4BJ, UK
Alastair George Frances Cary-Elwes (January 9, 1866 - July 16, 1946) was born on January 9, 1866, the son of Windsor Charles Cary Elwes (1839-1916) and
Augusta Caroline Louisa Law (1844-1920), daughter of Hon. William Towry Law. Hailing from an affluent and cultured English family he was
the grandson of a baronet. Demonstrating a strong commitment to artistic pursuits from an early age, he moved to Paris to immerse himself in the vibrant
European art world, studying under Jean-Paul Laurens and establishing deep roots within bohemian, aesthetic, and queer-adjacent circles. During his
formative years in Paris, Cary-Elwes famously shared both a studio and a domestic life with the acclaimed Australian expatriate artist
Rupert Bunny, whom he met alongside Hungarian writer Zsigmond Justh in the late 1880s. Together with Bunny, he
moved within elite artistic networks deeply influenced by Pre-Raphaelite poetry and Renaissance masters, capturing one another in portraits such as
Cary-Elwes's famous depiction of Bunny playing the piano, which now resides in the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
In addition to his artistic endeavors, Cary-Elwes served for seven years in 'C' Company of the Artists Rifles, reflecting his diverse engagements during
his early adult life. He was also famously the subject of a distinguished oil portrait painted circa 1900 by the renowned artist
John Singer Sargent, which later became associated with the Chelsea Arts Club and various literary covers.
Despite his connections to prominent figures of the era, Cary-Elwes eventually pivoted away from secular bohemian life. He joined a monastic community,
taking his clothing in 1898 and making his profession in 1899, subsequently becoming Reverend Luke Cary-Elwes. He lived out his later years in religious
devotion until his death on July 16, 1946, at the age of 80, and was laid to rest at the Fort Augustus Abbey Cemetery in the Scottish Highlands.
Photograph of Alastair Cary Elwes (L), Rupert Bunny (R), and Zsigmund Justh (front), 30 May 1888. The University of Melbourne Art Collection.
Alastair CARY-ELWES, Rupert Bunny (c. 1887), oil on canvas, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Gift of Mr C. C. Chisholm Esq., 1962
References:
- Zsigmond Justh's Parisian Diaries: The 19th-century journals of the Hungarian writer Zsigmond Justh (1863–1894), which record his encounters in Paris starting in January 1888, detailing interactions with Rupert Bunny and Alastair Cary-Elwes within bohemian and Pre-Raphaelite circles.
- National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne, Australia): Houses Rupert Bunny's portrait of Alastair Cary-Elwes playing the piano (Gift of Mr. C.C. Chisolm, Esq., 1962, LN200.57).
- John Singer Sargent Catalogue Raisonné: Documented in John Singer Sargent: The Later Portraits, Vol. III (New Haven, Connecticut, 2003, pp. 43, 284, no. 389, illustrated) by Richard Ormond and Elaine Kilmurray.
- The American by Henry James, edited by A. Poole (Oxford World's Classics, Oxford, England, 1999)—featured with the portrait of Alastair Cary-Elwes on the cover.
- Christie's auction listings and sale records (e.g., American Art and previous sales detailing the circa 1900 portrait of Alastair Cary-Elwes by John Singer Sargent, detailing its provenance through the Chelsea Arts Club, Phillips London, and The Fine Art Society).
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