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Edith Ellaline Brougham (née Teichman), Lady Brougham and Vaux ('Mrs Richard Hart-Davis as Andromeda')

© Yevonde Portrait Archive

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Edith Ellaline Brougham (née Teichman), Lady Brougham and Vaux ('Mrs Richard Hart-Davis as Andromeda')

by Madame Yevonde
Vivex colour print, March 1935
14 3/4 in. x 10 5/8 in. (375 mm x 271 mm)
Given by Madame Yevonde, 1971
Photographs Collection
NPG x32989

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Madame Yevonde (1893-1975), Photographer. Artist associated with 326 portraits, Sitter in 8 portraits.

This portraitback to top

In Greek mythology Andromeda was the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Her mother's boasting of her beauty angered Poseidon, God of the Sea who sent a monster to prey upon their country. The monster could only be appeased by the sacrifice of the king's daughter. Yevonde represents Andromeda chained at her wrists to a rock awaiting her fate. However Perseus, the son of Zeus and Danae, equipped with magic sandals in his mission to sever the gorgon, Medusa's head, happened to fly by and intervened by killing the attacking sea monster. His reward was to marry Andromeda.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • 100 Fashion Icons, p. 127 Read entry

    This photograph is part of Madame Yevonde's (1893–1975) much-celebrated Goddesses and others series, which was exhibited in July 1935 to launch her new studio in Berkeley Square, London. The society lady Mrs Richard Hart-Davis plays the role of Andromeda, who, in Greek mythology, is rescued from the sea monster by Perseus. Hart-Davis is dressed in a cascading Marià Fortuny (1871–1949) dress with pearlescent ripples evocative of the sea, and an intricate shawl made to resemble seaweed, embellished with shells handmade by Yevonde and her assistants. Contrary to many art historical depictions of the goddess as a helpless maiden, Yevonde's Andromeda appears defiant, wearing a bold red lip and soft finger-wave hairstyle popular among modern women of the 1930s.

  • Gibson, Robert; Roberts, Pam, Madame Yevonde: Colour, Fantasy & Myth, 1990 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 20 July - 1 October 1990), p. 74

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Events of 1935back to top

Current affairs

Stanley Baldwin starts his third term as Prime Minister after Ramsay Macdonald resigns due to ill health. Coincidentally, Baldwin's first term in office also came about when the Prime Minister of the time, Bonar Law, stepped down due to illness in 1923.

Art and science

Robert Watson-Watt demonstrates Radar, showing how an aircraft can be tracked by detecting radio waves reflected off it. During the war, Watson-Watt established a network of machines and operators that helped detect the approach of enemy aircraft in the Battle of Britain.
Penguin publishes its first paperback books, making reading more portable and affordable to a wider audience.

International

Italy invades Abyssinia. The invasion of the country now known as Ethiopia was part of Mussolini's plan to create an Italian Empire. It was also an attempt to avenge Abyssinia's victory over the Italian army at Adowa in 1896.
Germany introduces conscription, breaking the disarmament clause of the Treaty of Versailles.

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