10 OF 114 
George Bernard Shaw
10 of 114 portraits by Alvin Langdon Coburn
© The Universal Order
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George Bernard Shaw
by Alvin Langdon Coburn
photogravure, 1 August 1904
8 1/8 in. x 6 1/4 in. (206 mm x 159 mm)
Purchased, 1978
Photographs Collection
NPG Ax7768
Sitterback to top
- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Playwright. Sitter in 148 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 8 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Alvin Langdon Coburn (1882-1966), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 114 portraits, Sitter in 2 portraits.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Funnell, Peter (introduction); Marsh, Jan, A Guide to Victorian and Edwardian Portraits, 2011, p. 30 Read entry
George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) is one of the literary giants of the modern period, whose writings span a vast spectrum of subjects and ideas and whose influence was felt in politics and society at large. Towards the end of the nineteenth century he wrote important musical and dramatic criticism, introduced the British public to the work of Ibsen, and wrote some of his best plays. Successful seasons at the Royal Court Theatre (1904-7) established Shaw’s reputation, and many of his plays, including Major Barbara (1905) and Pygmalion (1914), later reached wider audiences as popular films. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925. His country home, Shaw’s Corner in Hertfordshire, was bequeathed to the National Trust.
Events of 1904back to top
Current affairs
Britain and France sign the Entente Cordiale, an agreement which resolves a number of longstanding colonial disputes (including a Declaration respecting Egypt and Morocco), signalling growing anxiety about the risk of future German aggression. Although not militarily binding, the agreement, negotiated between French foreign minister Théophile Delcassé, and Lord Lansdowne, the British Foreign Secretary, establishes a diplomatic understanding between the two countries.Art and science
J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan is first performed at the Duke of York's Theatre in London. Charting the fantastical adventures of Peter, 'the boy who never grew up', the Darling children and the villainous Captain Hook in Neverland, many adaptations have been made of the story.The painter Gwen John settles in Paris, where she becomes the lover and model of the sculptor Auguste Rodin, modelling for his sculpture Muse.
International
Japan attacks the Russian Navy at Port Arthur, sparking the Russo-Japanese war. Hostility was prompted by the rival imperialist ambitions of the Russian and Japanese empires in Manchuria, North East China, and Korea, considered by Japan to be an essential buffer against colonisation by Western Powers. Japan wins a series of victories against Russia which transforms the balance of power in East Asia, and undermines the Tsar's rule in Russia.Comments back to top
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