1822

Doris Keane 1916

Head and shoulders slightly to the left, head turned slightly and looking right, wearing a transparent dark chiffon stole round her shoulders and a pearl necklace

Oil on board, 68.6 x 48.3 cm (27 x 19 in.)

Inscribed lower right: László / 1916. July. London   

Laib L7903(289) / C14(8A) Miss Doris Keane

Sitters’ Book II, f. 6: Doris Keane 6th July 1916

Private Collection

On 21 June 1916, Doris Keane, a well-known actress, wrote to de László, to ask if he might donate a signed photograph of himself for her charitable stall at the Theatrical Garden Party.^[1] She sat for her portrait the next month and donated it to an auction benefiting the Actors’ Orphanage Fund.

The Tatler reported the sale with an illustration of the portrait: “A recent portrait by Laszlo [sic], the famous artist, of an actress who has bewitched London by her charm, and whose performance of the part of Madame Cavallini breathes the very spirit of romance. No such success as that achieved by Miss Doris Keane in ‘Romance’ has been known in London for many years past. Laszlo’s picture is to be sold at Christie’s on Friday next for the benefit of the Actors’ Orphanage. So great is the fame achieved by ‘Romance’ that negotiations are afoot for its production in Russia. The piece has recently been seen by a Russian officer who has already made a rough transposition of the story into Russian.”^[2] 

The portrait was sold 4 August 1916 at Christie’s in London for £99 15s.^[3] It is thought to have been purchased by her lover Howard Gould and given to Doris as a gift.

Doris Keane was born 12 December 1881, in St Joseph, Michigan, to Joseph Keane and his wife Minnie Florence Winter, a comedienne. Her first professional role was in Whitewashing Julia in 1903 on Broadway. She quickly rose to take leading roles in The Happy Marriage in 1909 and The Lights o' London in 1911. Her greatest success came in 1913, playing Margherita Cavallini in Edward Sheldon's Romance on Broadway. She played this part in New York and London’s Lyric Theatre, for the next five years and over a thousand performances.

She married the English actor Basil Sydney (1894-1968) in 1918 and they appeared together in a silent film of Romance in 1920. There were no children of the marriage. Doris had a daughter Ronda (born 1915) with the financier Howard Gould (1871-1959). He acknowledged paternity but the couple did not marry. She and Sydney divorced in 1925.

Doris Keane was an avid reader and owned an extensive library. She was a favourite subject of artists and was often portrayed with a book in her hand. Royal Doulton produced figurines of her in the role of Margherita Cavellini. While in London performing the role she stayed with the sculptor Jacob Epstein and his wife and he made a portrait bust of her.

She died 5 November 1945 in New York City at the LeRoy Sanitarium where she was being treated for cancer. She was cremated and her ashes buried in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

PROVENANCE:

Sold Christie’s, London, 4 August 1916;

Possibly purchased by Howard Gould and presented to the sitter;

By descent

LITERATURE:

•The Tatler, no. 788, 2 August 1916, p. 147, ill. 

•Grundy, C. Reginald, ed., The Connoisseur: An Illustrated Magazine for Collectors, Vol. XLVI (September-October 1916)

•DLA072-0020, letter from Doris Keane to de László, 21 June 1916

KF 2021