Quentin Crisp

1 portrait of Quentin Crisp

© Barbara Morris / National Portrait Gallery, London

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Quentin Crisp

by Barbara Morris
pen and ink, circa 1939
9 1/4 in. x 13 7/8 in. (235 mm x 354 mm) overall
Given by Barbara Morris, 2008
Reference Collection
NPG D33670

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Barbara Morris (1918-2009), Artist. Artist or producer of 3 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Shown here reclining in a classical feminine pose, Crisp sought to impress upon art students the qualities he felt life drawing should possess. As an exhibitionist, posing in life classes suited his personality. He later wrote: 'If I have a talent at all, it is not for doing but being.'

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

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.

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