2117

The Honourable Mrs Oliver Stanley, née Lady Alice Kathleen Violet Thynne 1920

Half-length to the left with her right hand raised to her shoulder, wearing a dark embroidered shawl over an orange and mauve dress, the fringe of her shawl draped over the arms of her chair, a gilt laurel crown on her head.

Oil on canvas, 105.4 x 70.2 cm (41 ½ x 27 ⅝ in.)

Inscribed lower left: 1920. II / de László 

Laib L9310353 / C25 (13): Lady Stanley

NPG 1917-21 Album, p. 63

Sitters’ Book II, f. 13: Kathleen Stanley. Jan 30th 1920.

Private Collection

Although descendants of the sitter believed that the present portrait was presented to the sitter as a wedding gift from the artist as a special favour to her father-in-law, Lord Stanley of Alderley, de László’s correspondence reveals that it was commissioned by him, and executed for a fee of £300. Lord Stanley had been a good friend to de László, supporting him during his internment and ultimate exoneration during the First World War, which led the artist to paint his portrait in 1919 as a token of his gratitude [2065]. It was not long after Lord Stanley’s portrait was painted that he wrote to de László to commission the present portrait: “I don’t like to seem like a beggar and I am very anxious that you should paint a sketch of my beautiful daughter-in-law. But I am afraid you would when you [illegible] make it something more than a sketch. But may I ask you if you will do a sketch of her for £300? I should have liked a finished picture but taxes compel one to be moderate in one’s desires.”^[1] Quite typically, de László painted a finished portrait (instead of the suggested study portrait) for his friend, still for this modest honorarium. It was not long before the artist started working on the commission, as the portrait was completed in February.

There was apparently some friction between the artist and Lady Kathleen, who did not like the way in which de László insisted on arranging her dress and pose. So much so that, according to one of the sons of the sitter, de László informed her that, had he charged for the painting, it would have cost her £600. Her descendants acknowledged that this coolness between the subject and the artist is borne out in the portrait, which de László himself did not feel was one of his great successes. The laurel crown worn by the sitter was a studio prop that he used in several other portraits, notably one of his wife, Lucy, painted in 1936 [7466]. Lord Stanley, however, repeatedly told de László how pleased he was with the portrait, as in this letter, dated 13 March 1920: “All who have seen your portrait of Kathleen think it very good […] She looks very like the tragic muse. It will be a fine presentment of her to go down to posterity.”^[2] 

Lady Alice Kathleen Violet Thynne (known as Kathleen) was born on 27 March 1891, the eldest daughter of Thomas Henry Thynne, 5th Marquess of Bath and his wife Violet Caroline, daughter of Sir Charles Mordaunt, 10th Bt. She was raised at Longleat, surrounded by an extended family and many servants. Despite the grandeur of the architecture, the house was austere and home comforts were limited. Her youngest son later recalled that the food for the family was extremely simple but that the Baths entertained their guests with great generosity. Lady Kathleen was educated at home by two governesses, one French and one German, so that she became fluent in both languages. On 8 July 1919 she married Lieutenant Colonel the Honourable Oliver Hugh Stanley (1879-1952), the third son of 4th Baron Stanley of Alderley and his wife Mary Katherine, daughter of Sir Lothian Bell. Oliver Stanley was Lieutenant-Colonel of the Reserve Officers of the Royal Artillery and fought in both the Boer War (1899-1902) and the First World War. He received the Distinguished Service Order in 1918, and became Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for Anglesey. The marriage was a happy one. The couple had a daughter, Mary, who died in infancy (1921), and four sons. The two eldest, John Norman (born 1922) and Martin Oliver (born 1924), were killed in an accident in 1947 in Anglesey, when a ferreting hide they were digging fell in on them. The two younger sons were Thomas Henry Oliver (born 1927), who succeeded as 8th Baron Stanley of Alderley in 1972, and Richard Morgan Oliver (born 1931).

Before her marriage Lady Kathleen served in the First World War as a nurse in Belgium. She became President of the Red Cross in Anglesey, Head of the Land Army for North Wales, served in the WVS and was a County Councillor in Anglesey. She served on the Hospital Board in Anglesey, becoming Chairman of the local Health Service in its infancy after the Second World War. She continued this work in Wiltshire when she moved back to Longleat to live in a house on the estate after the death of her husband, in 1953. She is affectionately remembered by her family although she was more widely known as a reserved woman. She had no doubts about her position in life, but was quite shy and, it was said, affected by her mother’s illegitimate birth. Lady Kathleen died in Somerset on 4 October 1977, aged eighty-six.

PROVENANCE:        

Commissioned by the sitter’s father-in-law, Lord Stanley of Alderley

LITERATURE:

•DLA048-0037, letter from Lord Stanley to de László, 14 December 1919

•DLA048-0040, letter from Lord Stanley to de László, 13 March 1920

•DLA048-0038, letter from Lord Stanley to de László, 3 April 1920

CC 2008