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Fred Astaire; Adèle Astaire (Lady Charles Cavendish)

1 of 2 portraits of Fred Astaire

© Cecil Beaton Archive / Condé Nast

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Fred Astaire; Adèle Astaire (Lady Charles Cavendish)

by Cecil Beaton
bromide print, 1929
9 5/8 in. x 7 5/8 in. (245 mm x 195 mm)
Accepted in lieu of tax by H.M. Government and allocated to the Gallery, 1991
Photographs Collection
NPG x40004

Sittersback to top

Artistback to top

  • Cecil Beaton (1904-1980), Photographer, designer and writer. Artist or producer associated with 1114 portraits, Sitter associated with 360 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Pepper, Terence, Beaton Portraits, 2004 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 February - 31 May 2004), p. 37 Read entry

    Beaton delighted in a comment made by Adèle Astaire, Fred’s sister, who had married into the English aristocracy. A New York hostess asked her about her mother-in-law, the Duchess of Devonshire. ‘She must be very stupid or very dull’, replied Adèle, ‘because I don’t meet her about anywhere.’

  • Pepper, Terence, Beaton Portraits, 2004 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 February to 31 May 2004), p. 37

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Events of 1929back to top

Current affairs

The first election held under universal suffrage is a victory for Labour. Ramsay Macdonald returned for his second term as Prime Minster, and appointed Margaret Grace Bondfield as the first woman Cabinet Minister.

Art and science

Two classic books about the First World War are published: All Quiet on the Western Front, by war veteran, Erich Maria Remarque, tells of the horrors of war and the returning German soldiers' feelings of detachment from civilian life; while Robert Grave's autobiography Goodbye to All That, aimed to describe the author's experiences of the war so that they 'need never be thought about again'.

International

The 24th October 1929 becomes known as Black Thursday when the US Stock Exchange Collapses and millions are lost. The event was the start of the Wall Street Crash, which in turn contributed towards the Great Depression: a major international recession that lasted through most of the 1930s.

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