5 OF 28

Vita Sackville-West

5 of 28 portraits of Vita Sackville-West

Vita Sackville-West

by Lord Snowdon
gelatin silver print, 5 June 1961
15 7/8 in. x 12 1/8 in. (403 mm x 307 mm) paper size; 15 3/8 in. x 10 1/2 in. (389 mm x 267 mm) image size
Given by Antony Charles Robert Armstrong Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, 2013
Primary Collection
NPG P1917

Sitterback to top

Victoria Mary ('Vita') Sackville-West (1892-1962), Writer and gardener; wife of Sir Harold Nicolson. Sitter associated with 28 portraits.

Artistback to top

Antony Charles Robert Armstrong Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon (1930-2017), Photographer, film-maker and designer; former husband of Princess Margaret. Artist of 285 portraits, Sitter in 22 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Snowdon photographed Sackville-West in the year her final novel No Signposts in the Sea was published.

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Snowdon: A Life in View (26 September 2014 - 21 June 2015)

Portrait setback to top

Snowdon Portraits: photographs, 1950s to 1990s

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1961back to top

Current affairs

Peter Benenson's article The Forgotten Prisoners is published internationally, inspiring the founding of the human rights organisation, Amnesty International.
The philosopher and peace activist Bertrand Russell is imprisoned for inciting civil disobedience during a sit down demonstration at the Ministry of Defence and Hyde Park.
The farthing coin - used in Britain for the last 7 centuries - ceases to be legal tender.

Art and science

Rudolf Nureyev defects from the USSR fearing that the KGB would arrest him for being gay and for fraternising with foreigners. After seeking asylum in Paris he set up home in London at the Royal Ballet and began his famous partnership with Margot Fonteyn.
The satirical magazine, Private Eye is first published.

International

The East German government erects the Berlin Wall, ceasing free movement between East and West Berlin. The barrier prevented citizens of Soviet controlled East Germany from crossing the border into West Germany to work, or to defect.
Yuri Gagarin, the soviet cosmonaut, becomes the first man in space orbiting the earth on the 12th April.

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