1 OF 2

Lady Cynthia Blanche Mosley (née Curzon)

1 of 2 portraits of Lady Cynthia Blanche Mosley (née Curzon)

Cecil Beaton Studio Archive © Conde Nast

by Cecil Beaton
gelatin silver print, 1929
12 3/4 in. x 9 in. (324 mm x 229 mm)
Purchased, 2009
Primary Collection
NPG P1353

Sitterback to top

Lady Cynthia Blanche Mosley (née Curzon) (1898-1933), Society figure and Labour politician; MP for Stoke; first wife of Sir Oswald Mosley; daughter of 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston. Sitter in 2 portraits.

Artistback to top

Cecil Beaton (1904-1980), Photographer, designer and writer. Artist associated with 1111 portraits, Sitter associated with 361 portraits.

Subjects & Themesback to top

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.

Tell us more back to top

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Robin Muir

20 March 2019, 14:12

This portrait of Lady Cynthia appeared in British Vogue in the issue of January 8 1930 p.20. Bearing in mind Vogue's lead in time of anything between 1 and 2 months, this is likely to have been taken in 1929. (There will not have been time for CB to have made it and for Vogue to publish it in early 1930 and it cannot -- with this in mind -- be dated '1931')

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