Edith Sitwell
(1887-1964), PoetDame Edith Sitwell
Sitter in 56 portraits
Sitwell's first volume of poems, The Mother, was published in 1915. In collaboration with Osbert, she wrote Twentieth Century Harlequinade (1916). Her early work was characterised by marked stylisation, striking images and unconventional rhythms. As editor of the poetry anthology Wheels (1916-21), she encouraged modernist writers and attracted critical attention. Façade, her poem set to William Walton's music, established her reputation. Her best-known work includes Gold Coast Customs (1929) and English Eccentrics (1933). Four wartime volumes, including Street Songs (1942) and The Shadow of Cain (1947), were inspired by the blitz and the atom bomb.
Explore the portrait of Edith Sitwell by Maurice Lambert (NPG 5801) from all angles
by Howard Coster
copy print, 1937
NPG x1639
by Howard Coster
10 x 8 inch film negative, 1937
NPG x10964
Edith Sitwell with Pavel Tchelitchew's 'Phenomena' at Tooth's Gallery
by Reg Sayers, for Daily Herald
modern bromide print from original negative, 15 June 1938
NPG x135107
Sir Osbert Sitwell; Edith Sitwell
by Ruth Sondak
bromide print, 8 November 1948
NPG x45790
by Horst P. Horst
modern print from original negative, 1948
NPG x137762
Group including Edith Sitwell; Philip Steegman; Sir Osbert Sitwell; Elizabeth Steegman
by Unknown photographer
bromide print, 12 February 1951
NPG x4295
by Keystone Press Agency Ltd
vintage print, November 1952
NPG x194189
by George Silk
modern bromide print, January 1953
NPG x137375
Edith Sitwell; Sir William Turner Walton; Susana Gil (née Passo), Lady Walton
by Fox Photos Ltd
vintage print, July 1953
NPG x194188
by Mark Gerson
modern bromide print, May 1962
NPG x88228
Sir Sacheverell Sitwell, 6th Bt; Sir Osbert Sitwell; Edith Sitwell
by Unknown photographer
modern bromide print, 9 October 1962
NPG x45791
by Mark Gerson
bromide fibre print, May 1962
NPG x46700
by London Express News and Feature Services
bromide press print, 9 October 1962
NPG x199008
by Cecil Beaton
bromide print on white card mount, 1962
NPG x14209
by Derek Parker
vintage bromide print, circa 1963
NPG x125615
by Derek Parker
vintage bromide print, circa 1963
NPG x125616
George Bernard Shaw; Edith Sitwell; Sir Osbert Sitwell; Sir Sacheverell Sitwell, 6th Bt
by Robert Stewart Sherriffs
ink, 1927-1930
NPG D4468
Related People
- William Henry Forester Denison, 1st Earl of Londesborough (grandfather)
- Edith Frances Wilhelmina (née Somerset), Countess of Londesborough (grandmother)
- Lady Ida Emily Augusta Sitwell (née Denison) (mother)
- Francis Trajan Sitwell (nephew)
- Sir (Francis) Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell, 5th Bt (brother)
- Sir (Sacheverell) Reresby Sitwell, 7th Bt (nephew)
- Sir Sacheverell Sitwell, 6th Bt (brother)
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