Edith Sitwell

1 portrait of Edith Sitwell

© The Jane Bown Literary Estate / National Portrait Gallery, London

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Edith Sitwell

by Jane Bown
bromide print, 1959
20 in. x 15 3/4 in. (507 mm x 400 mm)
Given by Jane Bown and The Observer, 1981
Photographs Collection
NPG x28632

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Jane Bown (1925-2014), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 73 portraits, Sitter in 7 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Clerk, Honor, The Sitwells, 1994 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 14 October - 22 January 1995), p. 152 Read entry

    Jane Brown's photograph was commissioned to illustrate an article featuring Edith in a series entitled 'My Clothes and I' (Observer, 10 May, 1959). In it she describes the history of the necklace that for no particular reason, has become known as her 'Aztec' necklace. 'This gold collar was made for me by an American woman called Millicent Rogers. She was one of my greatest friends, though I only met her once.She sent it to me, and the British Museum kept it four days and thought it was pre-Columban [sic], undoubtedly from the tomb of an Inca - though they couldn't make out how the gold could be stiffened in a way that wasn't in existence in those days. But I have to be careful of the clanking when I am reciting and don't often wear it for that.'1

    1 Edith Sitwell in 'My Clothes and I', Observer, 10.5.1959, p 19.

Events of 1959back to top

Current affairs

Harold Macmillan wins the general election with an increased majority, returning to office as Conservative prime minister. The victory was the result of perceived economic improvement under the Conservative government, and his (misquoted) boast: 'you've never had it so good.' During his premiership he earned the nickname 'Supermac', coined by cartoonist, Victor 'Vicky' Weisz.

Art and science

Claudia Jones organises the first West Indian-style carnival in the country, starting the tradition of the annual Notting Hill carnival. The event was a response to the race riots of 1958, and an attempt to celebrate West Indian culture and help overcome racial prejudice by giving the whole community the opportunity to join in the event.

International

Fidel Castro becomes leader of Cuba. After defeating the American-backed Batista government, Castro's revolutionary army arrived in Havana on 8th January where Castro proclaimed himself Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Within a month, Prime Minister José Miró Cardona had resigned, and Castro took over.
In Tibet, an uprising against Chinese rule is brutally crushed, and the Dalai Lama flees to India, beginning his long exile.

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