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Diana Wynyard

1 of 35 portraits of Diana Wynyard

© William Hustler and Georgina Hustler / National Portrait Gallery, London

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Diana Wynyard

by Dorothy Wilding
chlorobromide print on tissue and card mount, 1937
17 in. x 13 1/8 in. (433 mm x 333 mm)
Given by the photographer's sister, Susan Morton, 1976
Primary Collection
NPG P870(16)

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Dorothy Wilding (1893-1976), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 2179 portraits, Sitter in 30 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • 100 Fashion Icons, p. 101 Read entry

    Diana Wynyard, one of a number of British actresses whose successful careers took them to Hollywood in the 1930s, wears an evening dress based on the classical Greek chiton, pinned at the shoulders and belted at the waist in this photograph. The classical influence is also apparent in the studio setting, in which photographer Dorothy Wilding (1893–1976) posed the statuesque Wynyard resting on a column. The neoclassical, modernist styling and theatrical glamour that characterise this photograph of Wynyard are typical of Wilding's portraiture.

  • Owen, Elizabeth, Fashion in Photographs 1920-1940, 1993, p. 117
  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 681

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Current affairs

George VI becomes king. The younger brother of Edward VIII was crowned on the 12th May and the coronation was broadcast to Britain and the Empire on the radio. Edward becomes the Duke of Windsor, although the rank of 'Royal Highness' is not extended to Wallis Simpson.
Neville Chamberlain becomes Prime Minister following Baldwin's retirement.

Art and science

Roland Penrose organises a tour of Picasso's painting Guernica to the UK. The painting, which shows the horrors of the Spanish Civil War, went on display at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in East London

International

Commercial airship travel is brought to an end with the 'Hindenberg Disaster'. The German airship exploded while landing in New Jersey. The radio broadcaster Herbert Morrison's reaction has become legendary: 'Oh, the humanity!'
Japan invades China, killing about 25,000. Japanese Troops committed numerous atrocities against soldiers and civilians in what became known as the 'Rape of Nanking'.

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