Agatha Christie
© National Portrait Gallery, London
Agatha Christie
by John Gay
vintage glossy bromide print, published February 1949
10 1/4 in. x 8 3/8 in. (259 mm x 212 mm)
Bequeathed by executors of Marie Anita Gay (Mrs John Gay), 2003
Photographs Collection
NPG x126501
Sitterback to top
- Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie (née Miller) (1890-1976), Writer; former wife of Archibald Christie, and later wife of Sir Max Mallowan. Sitter in 28 portraits.
Artistback to top
- John Gay (1909-1999), Photographer. Artist or producer of 295 portraits, Sitter in 5 portraits.
Linked publicationsback to top
- 100 Writers, p. 106
- Flavia Frigeri, Women At Work: 1900 to Now, 2023, p. 46
Placesback to top
- Place made and portrayed: United Kingdom: England, Devon (sitter's house, Greenway House, Devon)
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- John Gay - Portraits in print (29 July 2006 - 3 December 2006)
- Off the Beaten Track (7 July 2004 - 31 October 2004)
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1949back to top
Current affairs
Following the Republic of Ireland Act in 1948, the Irish Free State becomes the Republic of Ireland and leaves the Commonwealth. The functions previously given to the King were handed to the President of Ireland.The Second Parliament Act diminishes the power of the House of Lords, reducing their authority to delay bills from two years to one.
Art and science
George Orwell publishes his dystopian novel, 1984. The book imagines a future where totalitarian governments rule; their power based on continual war abroad, and overwhelming propaganda and surveillance at home. With 'Big Brother' keeping a constant check on the citizens' actions and thoughts, the individual loses the faculties of free will and independent thought.International
The People's Republic of China is created after the Communist Party wins the Civil War. China became a communist country under Mao Zedong.Cold War tensions increase as Germany is split into the democratic Federal Republic of Germany in the west (a union of the post-war British, French and American sectors), and the communist German Democratic Republic, in the east.
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