Lady Gwendeline Spencer-Churchill – John Lavery

She was playing a role. But everything Lavery painted was real.

Lady Gwendeline Spencer-Churchill — younger sister of Winston Churchill — sat for Lavery in costume for a production of The Merchant of Venice. What he captured was something more than a theatrical portrait. The loose, vivid brushwork, the intensity of the gaze, the way the costume becomes almost secondary to the person wearing it — this is Lavery at his most alive, painting someone who refused to be merely decorative.

It is one of the most compelling female portraits in his entire body of work.

Sir John Lavery (1856–1941) was born in Belfast, trained in Glasgow and Paris, and became one of the most celebrated portraitists of the Edwardian era. His work is hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland, the Tate, and major collections worldwide.

archival print on 250gsm fine-art matte paper. Printed to order. Free worldwide shipping.