Sir John Lavery

Mrs.Lavery Sketching

Sir John Lavery's art is still deservedly popular, especially in his native land of Ireland where his paintings were attracting high prices recently.

The artist was descended from an ancient King, Labhradh
Loingseach, according to John Lavery and his Work by R.B. Cunninghame Graham. This name means 'Lavery the Mariner'.
He didn't have an auspicious start in life, considering that he was the descendent of a king, however.

Born in Belfast in 1856, Lavery was the son of a failed publican who died at sea while trying to immigrate to America. His mother died soon afterwards and the young orphan was raised by relatives.

He soon showed a talent for painting and studied at the Haldane Academy, Glasgow and the Academie Julien, Paris. He was strongly influenced by the 'Glasgow School' and Whistler's paintings. He also became friends with Whistler.

His break came when he was commissioned to paint Queen Victoria's visit to the Glasgow International Exhibition. He moved to London and became a society painter, with important friends such as the Asquiths and the Churchills. His subjects included Anna Pavlova and the Asquiths.

Lavery painted more than 400 portraits of his beautiful second wife, the Irish-American Hazel Martyn Trudeau who was much younger. He married her in 1909. His first wife, Kathleen MacDermott, with whom he had aone daughter, Eileen, died in 1889 of TB.

The government commissioned Lavery as a War Artist in the First World War bu ill-health and a car-crash prevented him from going to the Western Front. He painted the Home Front and his paintings include the North Sea, The End, and The Cemetery, Etaples. He received a knighthood and was elected to the Royal Academy in 1921.

Lavery became very interested in the Irish 'troubles' and painted pictures of the trial of Sir Roger Casement. He and Hazel held the negotations for the Anglo-Irish
Treaty at their house in London.

Hazel fell for the handsome, young Irishman, Michael Collins, and wrote him poetry and sentimental letters. Whether they had an affair is doubtful because Collins was very Catholic, engaged and the much older Hazel had lost much of her beauty. This did not stop her from trying to throw herself on his grave. (One wonders what her husband thought!)

Lavery went back to his beloved Ireland in the 1930's. He died at 84 in 1941.

Edwardian Style Shoes

What do you think of these shoes: Edwardian Style Zanotti Shoes? They're much too high for me and look fairly dangerous anyway! I wish that this fashion for very high-heeled shoes was over, actually.

I agree that the style is quite Edwardian and attractive but I think that the shoes would still look good if they had lower heels.

I hope to write a longer post on the weekend.

Poiret dress

The vintage fashion expert at Couture Allure has a photo of an elaborate Poiret dress which I love: Red Poiret Gown

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The Most Beautiful Girl In The Mid-West

Cathleen ni Houlihan, one of the symbols of Irish nationhood, is often depicted in literature as an old woman who needs the help of young men to fight for Ireland. She is not usually as beautiful as Hazel Lavery appears on the old Irish pound note.

Born Hazel Martyn in Chicago in 1880, she was the daughter of a wealthy American industrialist descended from an old Irish family. Hazel was a talented young artist and ambitious, but fate had other plans.

The ‘most beautiful girl in the Mid-West’ fell in love with the Irish artist, John Lavery, on a family holiday in Brittany, when she was quite young. The widower was thirty years older and Hazel’s family was not impressed with the match. Hazel agreed to marry Ned Trudeau, a handsome surgeon, who was her family’s choice.

Ned died of pneumonia a short time after they were married when Hazel was pregnant with Alice. Hazel wanted to return to John but her mother still opposed the idea.

After her mother died Hazel was free. She married John in 1910.

John Lavery was a very successful artist who painted Queen Victoria, the Asquiths, the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, and other famous people in society. He also painted many exquisite paintings of his wife, Hazel. He was knighted in 1921 so Hazel became Lady Lavery. (I can’t help receiving the impression that she was the type of woman who’d enjoy having a title!)

The Laverys were friendly with the Churchills. After the Dardanelles Campaign in 1915, Churchill’s wife, Clementine, thought that Winston would ‘die of grief.’ He had always wanted to paint and bought a paintbox and brushes. One day when he visited Hazel, she asked: “Why do you hesitate?” She persuaded him to finally start painting.

Hazel and John also helped Winston Churchill by becoming involved in diplomacy. Hazel became extremely interested in Irish nationalism – she even described herself as Irish and put on an Irish accent. She and John offered their house in South Kensington, London, as the site for the negotiations for the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922 which formed the basis for the Irish Free State.

Legend has it that forty year old Hazel fell for the handsome Irish nationalist, Michael Collins, and that they had an affair. She and John apparently had a rocky marriage. Michael wrote poems about her ‘delicate sad grace.’ However, Michael Collins was engaged to a young lady and Hazel was twenty years older and dyed her hair, according to one of Churchill’s daughters. There are claims that Hazel would have been shot by the I.R.A. if they’d had an affair.

There are also stories that Hazel wanted to put on widow’s weeds after Collins was shot and even throw herself onto his grave, but this is probably an exaggeration.

It’s a pity that Hazel’s talent for painting has largely been unnoticed. Perhaps her husband was the more talented of the two. Hazel died in 1935 and is buried with John in Putney Vale Cemetery.

(I hope to write about Sir John Lavery soon. They were certainly a fascinating couple!)

Exhibition at the Lady Lever Art Gallery

If only I could go to this! This is an interesting article about the exhibition:
New Exhibition at the Lady Lever Art Gallery

I hope to write a longer post about a different subject soon.

New York's Grande Dame

Brooke Astor would probably have been horrified by the trial and conviction of her son, Phillip Marshall, for grand larceny and other charges relating to his abuse of her. However, he obviously made her last years very unpleasant and thoroughly deserves time in jail.

Here is my article about her: New Yorks' Grande Dame