112300

DESTROYED

Preparatory work

The Marchioness of Londonderry, née the Honourable Edith Chaplin c. 1924

Standing full-length on the landing of the staircase at Londonderry House, wearing a long white gown, tiara and DBE decoration, a statue and two urns set in the colonnade behind

Oil on canvas board, 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)

Sitters’ Book II, f. 39: E Londonderry 1st April 1924

Studio Inventory p. 57 (295): Study for a Conversation Picture, Lady in white dress, red carnation

This picture and a similar study [7191] are thought to be preparatory works or rejected versions of a portrait of the Marchioness of Londonderry, intended as a pendant to the portrait of the Marquess completed in 1924 [6136]. The portrait was not completed and the picture was destroyed after the artist’s death in accordance with the terms of his will. The sitter is painted on the landing of the staircase of Londonderry House, the family’s London home in Park Lane, which was sold in 1962 and demolished to make way for a Hilton hotel.

Although the second study shows the Marchioness in a white gown with what is most likely her DBE military division pinned to her dress rather than the red carnation suggested in the studio inventory. The sitter was the first female recipient of the honour, given to acknowledge her leadership as Colonel-in-Chief of the Women’s Volunteer Reserve and founder of the Women’s Legion during the First World War.

For biographical notes on the sitter see [6142].

PROVENANCE:

In the possession of the artist on his death, 1937;

Destroyed in accordance with the terms of the artist’s will, 1942

KF 2017