§ David Jagger R.O.I (British 1891-1958) Mrs Thelma

§ David Jagger R.O.I (British 1891-1958) Mrs Thelma Bader (wife of Wing Commander Douglas Bader, D.S.O., D.F.C.), 1942 signed and dated (lower left), oil on canvas (49.5cm x 42cm (19.5in x 16,5in)) Provenance: Property of a Gentleman, Glasgow. Exhibited: Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) & Royal Institute of OiI Painters (ROI), Joint Summer Exhibition, Suffolk Street Galleries, London 1942, no.23. Literature: Woman’s Journal Magazine, May 1942 (illustrated on front cover). The current work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of David Jagger by Timothy Dickson. Footnote: Provenance: Property of a Gentleman, Glasgow. Exhibited: Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) & Royal Institute of OiI Painters (ROI), Joint Summer Exhibition, Suffolk Street Galleries, London 1942, no.23. Literature: Woman’s Journal Magazine, May 1942 (illustrated on front cover). The current work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of David Jagger by Timothy Dickson. Jagger was at the height of his fame on the outbreak of the Second World War. The doubts and uncertainties of war-time London did not diminish his output, notable portraits included the future Prime Minister, Winston Churchill (1939) and the theatre and film actress, Vivien Leigh (1941) This head and shoulders portrait of Mrs. Olive Thelma Exley Bader, née Edwards (1907-1971), wife of Wing-Commander Douglas Bader, D.S.O., D.F.C., was painted at a point when the country was in the depth of the conflict and her husband, the famed and inspirational RAF fighter pilot, had been captured and held prisoner by the Germans. Douglas Bader had become a legend because of his skill and dogged determination, and in refusing to let the loss of both his legs following a plane crash in 1931 prevent him flying Spitfires during the Second World War. He fought valiantly over Dunkirk in the Battle of France. During the Battle of Britain he was given the command of No. 242 Squadron which brought down 67 German aircraft. His luck ran out during a mission over France in 1941, when his plane was damaged and he was captured, but he continued to make multiple escape attempts from countless prisons including Stalag Luft III (the scene of the Great Escape) eventually ending up in Colditz from where he was freed in 1945. As a counterpoint to his rather austere male portraits of British military personnel, Jagger painted a select group of portraits of female sitters. These included Dorothy Hyson, a cryptographer at Bletchley Park, Eileen Joyce, an Anglo-Australian concert pianist, who rose to fame during the Second World War and was regarded by the general public in a similar vein to Gracie Fields and Vera Lynn and latterly Mrs. Thelma Bader, wife of Wing-Commander Douglas Bader, D.S.O., D.F.C. Jagger also produced two portraits of countesses, one of whom was an ATS ambulance driver. Most of the aforementioned female portraits were reproduced as front cover images for the popular magazine, ‘Women’s Journal’. The portrait images were carefully selected to ‘reflect strength and fortitude during a time of adversity’. This portrait of Mrs. Thelma Bader is arguably the most visually striking and accomplished work of the group. Unusually for Jagger the portrait of Mrs. Thelma Bader was painted at her residence in Bagshot, Surrey. Most of Jagger’s portrait sittings were conducted in his Chelsea studio but it had been virtually destroyed during the London Blitz two years earlier. We are grateful to Timothy Dickson for his kind assistance in cataloguing the current work.