Duncan Grant (British, 1885-1978) Lydia Lopokova 68 x 52 cm....
Duncan Grant (British, 1885-1978)
Lydia Lopokova
indistinctly initialled and inscribed 'LYDIA/DG' (verso)
oil on canvas
68 x 52 cm. (26 3/4 x 20 1/2 in.)
Painted circa 1922
Provenance
The Artist's Family
With Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London, 1986, where acquired by the present owner
Private Collection, U.K.
When the Russian Ballet appeared in London in 1919, it gave two outstanding premieres, both choreographed by Léonide Massine - La Boutique Fantasque (designed by André Derain) and The Three-Cornered Hat (designed by Picasso). It was in the former ballet that Lydia Lopokova (1892-1981) scored a tremendous comic success, especially when dancing the Can-Can with Massine which, as they say, brought the house down at every performance. She then made a sudden disappearance from the Company, remaining absent (in still unexplained circumstances) for eighteen months. It was after her return that she became intimate with John Maynard Keynes and began to know his circle of friends. Duncan Grant took to her at once. He painted two three-quarter-length portraits of her - this one and the famous one in the Keynes Collection, King's College, Cambridge. Through the early 1920s after Lopokova and Massine had separated from Diaghilev's Company, Grant designed a number of costumes and sets for the two dancers in popular divertissements. Lopokova was known for her high spirits and enchanting presence but Grant, in both his portraits, has caught something of her melancholy side which people also noted (and which Grant ascribed to her being 'thoroughly Russian').
The portrait of Lopokova set in an oval, now in the National Portrait Gallery, was based by Grant on the present work. This painting has not before been reproduced or exhibited; a preliminary charcoal study is in a Sussex private collection.
We are grateful to Richard Shone for compiling this catalogue entry.
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Duncan Grant (British, 1885-1978)
Lydia Lopokova
indistinctly initialled and inscribed 'LYDIA/DG' (verso)
oil on canvas
68 x 52 cm. (26 3/4 x 20 1/2 in.)
Painted circa 1922
Provenance
The Artist's Family
With Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London, 1986, where acquired by the present owner
Private Collection, U.K.
When the Russian Ballet appeared in London in 1919, it gave two outstanding premieres, both choreographed by Léonide Massine - La Boutique Fantasque (designed by André Derain) and The Three-Cornered Hat (designed by Picasso). It was in the former ballet that Lydia Lopokova (1892-1981) scored a tremendous comic success, especially when dancing the Can-Can with Massine which, as they say, brought the house down at every performance. She then made a sudden disappearance from the Company, remaining absent (in still unexplained circumstances) for eighteen months. It was after her return that she became intimate with John Maynard Keynes and began to know his circle of friends. Duncan Grant took to her at once. He painted two three-quarter-length portraits of her - this one and the famous one in the Keynes Collection, King's College, Cambridge. Through the early 1920s after Lopokova and Massine had separated from Diaghilev's Company, Grant designed a number of costumes and sets for the two dancers in popular divertissements. Lopokova was known for her high spirits and enchanting presence but Grant, in both his portraits, has caught something of her melancholy side which people also noted (and which Grant ascribed to her being 'thoroughly Russian').
The portrait of Lopokova set in an oval, now in the National Portrait Gallery, was based by Grant on the present work. This painting has not before been reproduced or exhibited; a preliminary charcoal study is in a Sussex private collection.
We are grateful to Richard Shone for compiling this catalogue entry.
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