Hazel Lavery
Hazel Lady Lavery | |
---|---|
Born | Hazel Martyn 14 March 1880 |
Died | 1 January 1935 London, England, UK | (aged 54)
Nationality | American |
Spouses | Edward Livingston Trudeau Jr.
(m. 1903; died 1904)Sir John Lavery (m. 1909) |
Hazel Lavery, Lady Lavery (née Martyn; 1880–1935) was an American painter and the second wife of portrait artist
Early life
Born in
Personal life
In 1903, she married Edward Livingston Trudeau Jr, son of Edward Livingston Trudeau, a physician who advanced the treatment of tuberculosis. Trudeau died five months later.[4] They had one daughter, Alice, born 10 October 1904.[2]
While still married to Trudeau, she met John Lavery, a
During
The Laverys lent their palatial house at 5 Cromwell Place in
Irish banknotes
After the Anglo-Irish treaty, the
This personification of Ireland modelled on Lady Lavery and painted by her husband was reproduced on
Other portraits
Lady Lavery sat for more than 400 portraits by Sir John.[1] Many were similarly named, leading an expert to remark that "Hazel in ..." is virtually a Lavery trademark.[6]
Lavery's biographer described "Hazel in rose and grey" as "One of the nicest of Lavery's "Hazel in" pictures. For once he abandons the full-length format and the composition gains a more curvy, dynamic appearance. Hazel, profiled by what photographers call a hair light, wears a wispy dress the colour of faded hydrangeas".[6]
Another well-known portrait of Hazel Lavery painted by her husband is known as "The Red Rose" (1923). As one expert describes, this painting has a complicated history:
Her well-known face and the characteristic red, purple and gold colour harmonies make The Red Rose immediately recognizable as a portrait of her. However, the canvas was begun in 1892 as a portrait of Mrs William Burrell. In 1912 it was transformed into a portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, and in the early twenties it was, for a brief period, a portrait of Viscountess Curzon.[5]
Correspondence
Lady Lavery knew many famous figures of her era and corresponded with such notable figures as
This correspondence became public long after her death and reveals much about her personality and how she was regarded by her contemporaries. Amongst the events that are recounted are a visit to Ireland by the
Rumoured affair
Other correspondents speculated about Lady Lavery's relationship with Michael Collins and Kevin O'Higgins.[10] According to the memoirs of Derek Patmore, a writer, artist, and interior designer who was a close friend of Lady Lavery's, Collins was "the great love in her life" and that Sir Shane "told me that when Michael Collins was killed in an ambush they found a miniature of Hazel hanging around his neck with a poem Shane Leslie had written to her on the back of it."[11]
Speculation about the relationship between Collins and Lady Lavery led a newspaper of the day to refer to her as his "sweetheart", an issue Collins wrote to his fiancé Kitty Kiernan about.[12]
Historian Meda Ryan has cast doubts on these rumours. Ryan states that "in all the research I have done, I have found no evidence whatsoever that he had an affair with Lady Lavery". Emmet Dalton, a close associate of Collins who was with him during the period when the supposed affair happened, says he saw no evidence of an affair. Todd Andrews states that such an affair would have been against the code of conduct of the IRA and that it would not have been tolerated. Ryan also states that correspondence between Collins and Kitty Kiernan in this period shows that their relationship was solid.[13]
References
- ^ a b c d e Sinead McCoole, Hazel: A Life of Lady Lavery, 1880–1935 (2nd ed.) Lilliput Press, 1996.
- ^ a b c McCoole, Sinéad. "Lavery, Lady Hazel". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- Philip Armour's Union Stock Yards & Transit Company. The Martyns were important donors at St. Chrysostom's Episcopal Church in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago.
- ^ "Hazel Martyn Trudeau Weds", The New York Times, 22 July 1909
- ^ a b c d e Crawford Art Gallery, London Archived 2007-03-14 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c Sir John Lavery by Kenneth McConkey (Canongate Press, 1993)
- ^ Euro Changeover Board of Ireland Archived 2006-09-27 at the Wayback Machine: Economic and Monetary Union Act, 1998
- ^ [1] Georgetown University, Sir Shane Leslie collection, undated letter
- ^ [2] Georgetown University, Sir Shane Leslie collection, from one of the four following Churchill letters:11/8/1924, 11/12/1924, 2/27/1929, undated
- Sir Shane Lesliecollection, 1950 letter to Audrey Morris.
- ^ Patmore, Derek, "Private History," London: Jonathan Cape, 1960, p. 164
- ^ Michael Collins and the Women Who Spied for Ireland by Meda Ryan, Mercier Publication (2006)
- ^ "Collins didn't have affair with Lady Lavery: Claim".
External links
- Sir John Lavery: Passion and Politics Exhibition, Hugh Lane Gallery