Dorelia McNeill

Sitterback to top

• Dorothy ('Dorelia') McNeill (1881-1969), Partner and muse of Augustus John. Sitter associated with 15 portraits.

Artistback to top

• Charles Slade. Artist of 3 portraits.

This portraitback to top

The beautiful and enigmatic Dorothy McNeill was working as a secretary and attending evening art classes when John met her in 1903. He viewed her as a near mythical being and renamed her Dorelia. She was his lover and muse for the rest of his life. This photograph was taken while encamped in Norfolk. Earlier in this year John painted The Smiling Woman, a full-length portrait of Dorelia wearing bohemian dress. The painting established John's reputation as an oil painter and became his first picture to enter a national collection when it was presented to the Tate Gallery by the Contemporary Art Society in 1917

Linked publicationsback to top

• Rolley, Katrina; Aish, Caroline, Fashion in Photographs 1900-1920, 1992, p. 64

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

• Augustus John: A Life in Portraits (26 July 2011 - 18 March 2012)