Spencer’s CBE and election as an RA in 1950 led to a series of formally commissioned portraits from sitters who probably looked forward to seeing their images in the RA Summer Exhibitions, as indeed happened in this case. Dr Frank was a local GP, and Mayor of Maidenhead from 1946-1950. This picture was followed by a companion portrait of his wife (the psychiatrist Dr Winifred Doherty) as Mayoress, as well as paintings of his grandson, dog, garden and drawing room. The professional standing of the sitter, depicted in civic regalia at his home, Chauntry Court, Maidenhead, is presented with minute realism, echoing the portraiture of Holbein. His coat of arms, with the motto ‘A Frank for Freedom’, hangs on the wall.