Virginia Woolf
13 of 64 portraits of Virginia Woolf
© Estate Gisèle Freund / IMEC Images
Virginia Woolf
by Gisèle Freund
colour dye transfer, 1939
11 3/4 in. x 7 7/8 in. (299 mm x 200 mm)
Purchased, 1990
Primary Collection
NPG P440
Sitterback to top
- Virginia Woolf (née Stephen) (1882-1941), Novelist and critic; sister of Vanessa Bell. Sitter in 64 portraits.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Flavia Frigeri, Women At Work: 1900 to Now, 2023, p. 65
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 677
- Toksvig, Sandi; Dyer, Richard, Gay Icons, 2009 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 2 July - 18 October 2009), p. 82
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- Creative Connections 2015: Camden Radical Characters (1 July 2015 - 11 October 2015)
- Gay Icons (2 July 2009 - 18 October 2009)
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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