Augustus John Lady Ottoline Morrell

Augustus John (Wales, 1878-1961),  Lady Ottoline Morrell, 1908, oil on canvas 9 ½ x 13”

Lady Ottoline Morrell (1873-1938) was an important patron and society hostess. After travelling widely as a young woman, in 1902 Ottoline married Philip Morrell, a solicitor and later Liberal Member of Parliament. She established herself as a literary and political hostess at their home in Bloomsbury and from 1915 at Garsington Manor, their home near Oxford. Her social gatherings provided a forum for intellectual interaction and opportunities for writers and artists to meet patrons. Visitors to Garsington included Lytton Strachey, Henry Lamb, Aldous Huxley, Bertrand Russell, and Augustus John. She met John around 1907 and after having a brief love affair, they became good friends and she helped him gain commissions and connections. He executed a series of portraits of Ottoline as oils, watercolors, and drawings. Many of these have entered prestigious museums both in Britain and abroad.

This brillliant and evocative portrait study belongs to a group created by John around 1907-1909, featuring the head and shoulders of his subject. The paint is applied in a bravura manner with visible, broad strokes, and in several cases, the lower edge of the picture is unfinished, revealing the support underneath. Many of these portrait studies are unsigned and few of them were developed into larger, fully-realized portraits. The current picture shares with several other examples from the group, a distinctive pale yellow background. It is interesting to compare this early portrait study, long lost, with the well-known and often published formal portrait of Lady Ottoline (1919 oil on canvas) held by the National Portrait Gallery (see below), as it shows the same square-necked cut of her dress. So does the slightly earlier portrait of 1917 with a blue background (see below). Although her hair is shown as dark brunette, while most portraits show here with auburn or red hair, the actual painting has a red tinge to the edges of her mass of hair. Moreover, photographs of the sitter from the time period show the same hair style and color.  

Augustus John  Edited by Arthur Rutherston   Ernest Benn Ltd 1923 

Mr. John is one of the most remarkable of all English artists. The unstrained originality of his conceptions, the certainty and gusto of his execution, and the variety of his large production make him an artist who cannot be ignored even by those whom he does not attract. As one of the most accomplished draughtsmen of all times, a splendid colourist, a master of composition, and an etcher of fine achievement, Mr. John has been able to express his vigorous and romantic vision almost adequately. I say “almost,” because Mr. John so often fails to “carry through,” to squeeze every possible value out of his conceptions. He is to some extent what might be called a “first impressionist,” like a boxer who depends on an early knock-out rather than the building up of points. This disinclination for a long fight on top form is his major imperfection. But it is the result of two of his best qualities, spontaneity and fertility.