The sitter was born Prince Alexander of Teck, the youngest son of Frances, Duke of Teck and Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck; he was the brother of Queen Mary. Educated at Eton and the Royal Military College Sandhurst, in 1904 he married Princess Alice of Albany.  He relinquished his German title as Prince of Teck in 1917 and took the family name of Cambridge, becoming a member of peerage as the 1st Earl of Athlone.  He served as an Army officer, and in 1923 he was appointed governor-general of South Africa.

Closely identified with the promotion of education he was appointed chancellor of University of London from 1932-55. In 1940 he reluctantly accepted the post of governor-general of Canada, serving for 5 years. Described as a kind individual, with a quick temper, he was praised for his meticulous approach to detail.
Painted in c. 1940 the portrait records the Earl’s long association with the University of London. He is depicted wearing the black silk damask gown of a Chancellor of the University, the front is trimmed with gold lace and gold ornamentation. He is depicted similarly attired in a photograph by Hay Wrightson (NPG x47192).

Although acknowledged as a remarkably gifted artist in his early years Augustus John lost his way during the 1920s and ‘30s – the numerous portraits from the interwar years, such as this one, were not of the calibre of the decade after the First World War. In a review of an exhibition of his paintings at Tooth’s Gallery in 1938, Anthony Blunt wrote that… ‘Everyone is agreed on the fact that Augustus John was born with quite exceptional talent - some even used the word genius…and almost everyone is agreed that he has in some way wasted it ‘(The Spectator, 27 May 1938).

This portrait is representative of John's lesser middle to late years – when the artist completed numerous run-of-the-mill portraits, bearing none of striking colour, or vivacity of earlier decades. 

A copy or variant of the portrait is in Salford Museum and Art Gallery (140 x 100 cm, Acc No 1972-9).