A Collection of Vintage Photos feat. Actress Ethel Warwick (1882-1951)

Ethel  Warwick (1882 – 1951) was the daughter of Frank and Maude, born in Hardingstone, Northampton. Her education began in Margate and Hampstead, but by the early 1890’s she was studying to become an artist at the London Polytechnic.

She became an artists model to help pay her tuition there, which led to her meeting Herbert Draper, who used her as a model for several of his paintings, including The Lament for Icarus. Through him she became a favoured model for several artists, including John William Godward, who painted several portraits of her, and Linley Sambourne, for whom she posed nude in a series of photographic studies. She was also sketched by James McNeill Whistler.

She began training as an actress at Henry Neville’s acting school in the late 1890’s, and first appeared on stage at the Grande Theatre in Fulham in July 1900 as Emilie de L’Esparre in The Corsican Brothers. She later appeared in several films.

Ethel Warwick published by Rotary Photographic Co Ltd bromide postcard print, © National Portrait Gallery, London, circa 1906 via

Ethel Warwick by Reautlinger via

Ethel Warwick by Reautlinger via

Ethel Warwick, 1900 via

Hazel Lavery by E.O. Hoppé (1916)

Hazel, Lady Lavery (1880–1935) was a socialite, actress and painter. She was the second wife of portrait artist Sir John Lavery.

Hazel Lavery by E.O. Hoppé gelatin silver print, 1916 © 2019 E.O. Hoppé Estate Collection / Curatorial Assistance Inc. (NPG) via

Hazel Lavery by E.O. Hoppé gelatin silver print, 1916 © 2019 E.O. Hoppé Estate Collection / Curatorial Assistance Inc. NPG via

Lady Lavery dressed as Flora (1910s)

Lady Lavery dressed as Flora (mythology) in Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera painting, between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915 via

Evelyn Nesbit by Otto Sarony (1901)

Otto Sarony, Portrait of Evelyn Nesbit, 1901 via

Otto Sarony, Portrait of Evelyn Nesbit, 1901 via

Lady Hazel Lavery by Emil Otto Hoppé (1916)

Hazel, Lady Lavery (1880–1935) was a painter and the second wife of the celebrated portrait artist Sir John Lavery. Born in Chicago, Hazel Martyn was the daughter of Edward Jenner Martyn, a wealthy industrialist of Irish descent. A contemporary account refers to young Hazel Martyn as “The Most Beautiful Girl in the Midwest”.

In 1909 she and Lavery married. Subsequently, she became Lavery’s most frequent sitter. She sat for more than 400 portraits by Sir John. Many were similarly named, leading an expert to remark that “Hazel in…” is virtually a Lavery trademark.

Emil Otto Hoppé, Lady Hazel Lavery, United States, 1916 via

Emil Otto Hoppé, Lady Hazel Lavery, 1916 via

Evelyn Nesbit by Otto Sarony (1901)

Otto Sarony, Portrait of Evelyn Nesbit, 1901 via

Otto Sarony, Portrait of Evelyn Nesbit, 1901 via

Kiki de Montparnasse at the Seaside (1930)

F. Franc Lamy, Kiki de Montparnasse, 1930 via

F. Franc Lamy, Kiki de Montparnasse, 1930 via

F. Franc Lamy, Kiki de Montparnasse, 1930 via

Vintage Photos of Jeanne Hébuterne

Jeanne Hébuterne (1898 – 1920) was a French artist, best known as the frequent subject and common-law wife of the artist Amedeo Modigliani. Born in Paris, she aspired to be an artist and was introduced to the vibrant Montparnasse artist community through her brother Andre, who was himself an artist.

She modeled for several painters and sculptors, but soon enrolled in the Academie Colarossi for her own artistic training. There, in the spring of 1917, she met the charismatic artist Amedeo  Modigliani. Jeanne began an affair with the charismatic artist, and the two fell deeply in love. She soon moved in with him, despite strong objection from her parents

Modigliani, suffering from tuberculous meningitis,  died in January 1920. Jeanne Hébuterne’s family brought her to their home but Jeanne, totally distraught, threw herself out of the fifth-floor apartment window the day after Modigliani’s death, killing herself and her unborn child. Her family, who blamed her demise on Modigliani, interred her in the Cimetière de Bagneux. Nearly ten years later, the Hébuterne family finally relented and allowed her remains to be transferred to Père Lachaise Cemetery to rest beside Modigliani. Her epitaph reads:

“Devoted companion to the extreme sacrifice”.

Jeanne Hébuterne (1914) via

Jeanne Hébuterne (1914) via

Jeanne Hébuterne via

Jeanne Hébuterne at Amedeo Modigliani atelier in Montparnasse Paris (1919) from iulia achimescu via

A Collection of Photos feat. Mucha Models

In 1887 while studying, Czech painter and decorative artist, Alphonse  Mucha (1860 – 1939) moved to Paris. There he, in addition to studying, worked at producing magazine and advertising illustrations. About Christmas 1894, Mucha happened to go into a print shop where there was a sudden and unexpected need for a new advertising poster for a play featuring Sarah Bernhardt. Mucha volunteered to produce a lithographed poster within two weeks, and on 1 January 1895, the advertisement for the play Gismonda by Victorien Sardou was posted in the city, where it attracted much attention. Bernhardt was so satisfied with the success of this first poster that she began a six-year contract with Mucha. His style was given international exposure by the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris, of which Mucha said:

“I think [the Exposition Universelle] made some contribution toward bringing aesthetic values into arts and crafts.”

Mucha produced a flurry of paintings, posters, advertisements, and book illustrations, as well as designs for jewelry, carpets, wallpaper, and theatre sets in what was termed initially The Mucha Style but became known as Art Nouveau (French for “new art”). Mucha’s works frequently featured beautiful young women in flowing, vaguely Neoclassical-looking robes, often surrounded by lush flowers which sometimes formed halos behind their heads. In contrast with contemporary poster makers he used pale pastel colors.

Mucha’s work has continued to experience periodic revivals of interest for illustrators and artists. Interest in hiss distinctive style experienced a strong revival during the 1960s, with a general interest in all things Art Nouveau.

 

Alphonse  Mucha, Study for a Decorative Panel, 1908 via

Alphonse Marie Mucha. Model posing in Mucha’s studio rue du Val de Grâce  © Mucha Foundation via

Alphonse  Mucha. Model posing in Mucha’s studio rue du Val de Grâce  © Mucha Trust
via

Alphonse Marie Mucha. Model posing in Mucha’s studio rue du Val de Grâce via

 The Precious Stones photographic study in Mucha’s stdio Rue du Val de Grâce, 1900, Paris © Mucha Trust via

Portrait of a Lady photographic study in Mucha’s studio, Rue du Val de Grâce, ca. 1900, Paris © Mucha Trust via

Photographic study © Alphonse Mucha Estate/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris via

Photographic study for ‘Truth’ © Alphonse Mucha Estate/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris via

Amazing Victorian Photos of Muse Jane Morris (1860s)

Jane Morris (née Jane Burden 1839 –  1914) was an English artists’ model who embodied the Pre-Raphaelite ideal of beauty. Her father was a stableman and her mother a laundress, Jane Burden grew up in impoverished surroundings in Oxford.

She became a model and muse to the artists William Morris, whom she married  in 1859, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Although she married Morris, it was Dante Gabriel Rossetti who first spotted Jane at a performance at Drury Lane Theatre in 1857 and asked her if she would model for his paintings.

Jane Morris, posed by Rossetti by John R Parsons, 1865 via

John Robert Parsons, under the direction of Rossetti, 1865
© V&A Images / Victoria and Albert Museum, London via

Jane Morris, posed by Rossetti by John R Parsons, 1865 via

Jane Morris, posed by Rossetti by John R Parsons, 1865 via