Wilfrid de Glehn was thoroughly cosmopolitan in his upbringing and outlook. Described as “a true European, in the Churchillian sense”, he was fluent in several European languages. As Laura Wortley has noted, “in England Wilfrid was regarded as French, in France as American, and only later, in America, as British”. He was born Wilfrid Gabriel von Glehn in Sydenham, South London, and was educated at Brighton College.

His father, Alexander von Glehn, was involved in the building of narrow-gauge railways in France, as well as being a coffee-merchant. He was also the treasurer of the French Protestant Evangelical Society of Relief in Paris, an organisation set up to provide relief for those caught up in the Franco-Prussian War. Alexander was one of the twelve children of Robert von Glehn, a Baltic Baron with estates near Talinn in Estonia, who became a naturalised British subject on his marriage to a Scotswoman. A painting of Wilfrid’s grandmother by Henry Raeburn was still in the family by 1930, and perhaps inspired Wilfrid in his choice of future careers. One of Wilfrid’s uncles, Nikolai, was a sculptor, of whom little is known, while another uncle, Oswald von Glehn, had some degree of success in London as a history painter.

This website and its contents are owned and operated by David Messum Fine Art Limited. All elements of the website and all rights therein, including but not limited to the content and general design, are protected by copyright laws. Some content displayed may also be subject to third party rights. Messums have made all reasonable efforts to ensure that works of art on this website are reproduced with the permission of the copyright holders. However, the copyright status of some works remains unclear and we would welcome any information regarding the identity of the relevant copyright holders.Copyright © 2007 David Messum Fine Art Limited. All rights reserved.