Dorothy Emily Evelyn (née Whittall), Lady Campbell as Niobe

by Madame Yevonde
Vivex colour print, June 1935
11 3/4 in. x 14 7/8 in. (300 mm x 378 mm)
Given by Madame Yevonde (Yevonde Philone Middleton (née Cumbers)), 1971
Photographs Collection
NPG x11648

Sitterback to top

Dorothy Emily Evelyn (née Whittall), Lady Campbell (1894-1981), Wife of Sir Malcolm Campbell; daughter of William Whittall. Sitter associated with 13 portraits.

Artistback to top

Madame Yevonde (Yevonde Philone Middleton (née Cumbers)) (1893-1975), Photographer. Artist associated with 333 portraits, Sitter in 8 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Niobe, wife of Amphion, King of Thebes had seven sons and seven daughters of whom she boasted. Apollo and Artemnis decided this boasting was an insult to their mother Leto and took revenge by killing her husband and all her children except for one son and one daughter. Niobe wept without ceasing for nine days and nights until their bodies were buried. Zeus, out of pity for her, turned her to stone, but her grief was so deep that the stone continued to weep. This portrait employing glycerine and vaseline for its crying effect may have been inspired by Man Ray`s Glass Tears published the previous year.

Linked publicationsback to top

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. 18,64

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Goddesses and Others (17 January 2005 - 20 May 2005)

Subjects & Themesback to top

Crying
Vivex

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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