Vita Sackville-West
1 portrait of Vita Sackville-West
© Armstrong Jones
Vita Sackville-West
by Lord Snowdon
gelatin silver print, 5 June 1961
15 7/8 in. x 12 1/8 in. (403 mm x 307 mm) paper size; 15 3/8 in. x 10 1/2 in. (389 mm x 267 mm) image size
Given by Antony Charles Robert Armstrong Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, 2013
Primary Collection
NPG P1917
Sitterback to top
- Victoria Mary ('Vita') Sackville-West (1892-1962), Writer and gardener; wife of Sir Harold Nicolson. Sitter associated with 29 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Antony Charles Robert Armstrong Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon (1930-2017), Photographer, film-maker and designer; former husband of Princess Margaret. Artist or producer of 285 portraits, Sitter in 22 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Snowdon photographed Sackville-West in the year her final novel No Signposts in the Sea was published.
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- Snowdon: A Life in View (26 September 2014 - 21 June 2015)
Events of 1961back to top
Current affairs
Peter Benenson's article The Forgotten Prisoners is published internationally, inspiring the founding of the human rights organisation, Amnesty International.The philosopher and peace activist Bertrand Russell is imprisoned for inciting civil disobedience during a sit down demonstration at the Ministry of Defence and Hyde Park.
The farthing coin - used in Britain for the last 7 centuries - ceases to be legal tender.
Art and science
Rudolf Nureyev defects from the USSR fearing that the KGB would arrest him for being gay and for fraternising with foreigners. After seeking asylum in Paris he set up home in London at the Royal Ballet and began his famous partnership with Margot Fonteyn.The satirical magazine, Private Eye is first published.
International
The East German government erects the Berlin Wall, ceasing free movement between East and West Berlin. The barrier prevented citizens of Soviet controlled East Germany from crossing the border into West Germany to work, or to defect.Yuri Gagarin, the soviet cosmonaut, becomes the first man in space orbiting the earth on the 12th April.
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