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Sir Osbert Sitwell

3 of 61 portraits of Sir Osbert Sitwell

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Sir Osbert Sitwell

by Frank Owen Dobson
bronze head, 1994, based on a work of 1922
20 1/2 in. x 7 1/2 in. (520 mm x 190 mm) overall
Purchased, 1995
Primary Collection
NPG 6321

On display in Room 25 on Floor 2 at the National Portrait Gallery

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Frank Owen Dobson (1886-1963), Sculptor. Artist or producer of 8 portraits, Sitter in 18 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Sitwell sat 'nearly every day for three months' for this portrait, during which his family were planning Facade; a reading of Dame Edith Sitwell's poem, commissioned by Osbert. Dobson designed the backdrop for the performance which took place at the Aeolian Hall in 1923, with music by composer William Walton.

Related worksback to top

  • NPG 6320: Sir Osbert Sitwell (original plaster)

Linked publicationsback to top

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 1922back to top

Current affairs

The British Broadcasting Company (later British Broadcasting Corporation) is established to experiment with radio broadcasting. It is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world, providing radio, television and Internet services to the public in Britain and across the world.

Art and science

1922 is a key year for modernist literature with the publication of James Joyce's novel, Ulysses and T.S. Eliot's poem, The Waste Land. Both broke new ground with Ulysses (loosely based on Homer's Odyssey) introducing the 'stream of consciousness' narrative technique, and The Waste Land experimenting with multiple voices and a patchwork of literary, historic, mythological and personal allusions.

International

The Soviet Union is formed under Joseph Stalin who takes power after Lenin suffers a debilitating stroke.
In an attempt to avoid civil war, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy invites Benito Mussolini to form a new government following the Fascist Party's March on Rome.

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