Harriet Cohen
3 of 89 portraits of Harriet Cohen
© reserved; collection National Portrait Gallery, London
Harriet Cohen
by Ronald Ossory Dunlop
oil on canvas, circa 1930
29 7/8 in. x 20 in. (760 mm x 507 mm)
Given by the sitter's sister, Myra Verney, 1992
Primary Collection
NPG 6165
On display in Room 25 on Floor 2 at the National Portrait Gallery
Linked publicationsback to top
- 100 Fashion Icons, p. 92 Read entry
Harriet Cohen was a well-known pianist. Although particularly associated with J.S. Bach's music, Cohen performed a wide repertoire of classic as well as contemporary music. Constant Lambert, among others, wrote for her, and Sir Arnold Bax, a close friend, composed Concertante for Orchestra with Pianoforte Solo (Left Hand) for her after she lost the use of her right hand in 1948. In this painting by Ronald Ossory Dunlop (1894–1973), Cohen wears a low-neck and sleeveless dress – the kind of evening attire that she wore when giving recitals. Her hair is tied back in a bun or chignon fashionable at the time.
- Ribeiro, Aileen, The Gallery of Fashion, 2000, p. 220
- Ribeiro, Aileen; Blackman, Cally, A Portrait of Fashion: Six Centuries of Dress at the National Portrait Gallery, 2015, p. 224
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 134
Events of 1930back to top
Current affairs
Amy Johnson is the first woman to fly solo to Australia. She flew the 11,000 miles from Croydon to Darwin in a De Havilland Gipsy Moth named Jason and won the Harmon Trophy as well as a CBE for her achievement. She went on to break a number of other flying records, and died while serving in the Air Transport Auxiliary in 1941.Art and science
Noel Coward's play, Private Lives is first performed. The original run starred Gertrude Lawrence and Laurence Olivier as well as Coward himself. Private Lives became Coward's most enduringly successful play.International
Gandhi leads the Salt March. The march to the coast was a direct protest against the British monopoly on the sale of salt and inspired hordes of Indians to follow him and adopt his methods of Satyagraha (non-violent resistance to the British rule of India).Stalin orders the 'liquidation of the kulaks (wealthy farmers) as a class' in a violent attempt to centralise control of agriculture and collectivise farming.
Comments back to top
We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.
If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.