Noël Coward
1 portrait of Sir Noël Coward
© National Portrait Gallery, London
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Noël Coward
by Clemence Dane
oil on canvas, before 1939
20 1/8 in. x 16 1/8 in. (510 mm x 410 mm)
Bequeathed by Sir Noel Coward, 1973
Primary Collection
NPG 4950
Sitterback to top
- Sir Noël Coward (1899-1973), Actor, playwright and composer. Sitter associated with 117 portraits.
Artistback to top
- Clemence Dane (Winifred Ashton) (1888-1965), Novelist, playwright, screenwriter and artist. Artist or producer of 3 portraits, Sitter in 14 portraits.
This portraitback to top
The portrait by Coward's friend Clemence Dane was painted while the artist was giving Coward lessons in using oil paint and shows the sitter intensely looking at the easel.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 148
- Tinker, Christopher, Speak its Name! - Quotations by and about Gay Men and Women, 2016, p. 108
Events of 1939back to top
Current affairs
Britain goes to war. The German invasion of Poland demonstrated that the policy of appeasement had failed. After refusing to meet Britain's ultimatum to withdraw troops, Britain and France declared war on Germany. The Second World War had begun.Art and science
The Sutton Hoo burial ship is discovered. Apparently following a dream, Mrs Pretty invited the archaeologist Basil Brown to investigate a series of burial mounds on her estate on the banks of the river Deben in Suffolk. The excavation revealed an Anglo-Saxon burial, uncovering the most significant horde of early medieval artefacts found in Britain (now housed at the British Museum).International
The Second World War begins. Germany's invasion of Poland prompted Britain and France to declare war forming the core of the Allied powers. As part of the Soviet-Nazi Pact, the Soviet Union joined the war on the German side, helping, with Italy, to form the Axis Powers. Poland was soon overpowered and the Baltic Republics and Finland were invaded by the Soviet Union.Comments back to top
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