Margot Asquith
© DACS 2021
Margot Asquith
by Lucia Moholy
gelatin silver print, 1935
6 1/2 in. x 5 3/4 in. (165 mm x 147 mm) overall
Given by Bauhaus Archive, 1995
Photographs Collection
NPG x76368
Sitterback to top
- Margaret Emma Alice ('Margot') Asquith (née Tennant), Countess of Oxford and Asquith (1864-1945), Society hostess; second wife of 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith; daughter of Sir Charles Tennant, 1st Bt. Sitter associated with 53 portraits.
Linked publicationsback to top
- 100 Photographs, 2018, p. 69 Read entry
An acerbic wit, widely criticised for her outspoken views, Margot Asquith (1864-1945) was the second wife of H.H. Asquith, British prime minister from 1908 to 1916. When he died in 1928, Margot fell into financial difficulty, and took to writing her memoirs as a source of income. Here, she is shown by the Czech émigré Lucia Moholy (1894-1989) in full profile, with her face obscured. Moholy is now recognised as a key figure in the Bauhaus art school, although at the time her works were largely overshadowed by her husband, László Moholy-Nagy. In 1933, anticipating the Second World War, the two emigrated separately to London.
- Flavia Frigeri, Women At Work: 1900 to Now, 2023, p. 54
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- A Century of Photography, 1840-1940 (17 October 2016 - 29 October 2017)
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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