Yvonne Gregory

© estate of Bertram Park / National Portrait Gallery, London

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Yvonne Gregory

by Bertram Park
cream-toned bromide print, 1919
8 1/8 in. x 5 3/4 in. (206 mm x 145 mm)
Given by (Hilary) June Mardall (née Park, later Bosanquet), 1977
Photographs Collection
NPG x11824

Sitterback to top

  • Yvonne Gregory (1889-1970), Photographer; wife of Bertram Park. Sitter in 9 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 110 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Bertram Park (1883-1972), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 147 portraits, Sitter in 20 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Rogers, Malcolm, Camera Portraits, 1989 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 20 October 1989 - 21 January 1990), p. 185 Read entry

    The photographer Yvonne Gregory married Bertram Park in 1916, and together they set up in business at 43 Dover Street, London, with the financial backing of Lord Carnarvon, the Egyptologist. Marcus Adams trained with them and ran their Nursery Studio for children; Paul Tanqueray also had premises in the same street, as did Hugh Cecil and Bassano. Park was one of the most successful society photographers of the day. He was an aficionado of the soft-focus lens, and specialized in elegant portraits of society beauties posed against dark backgrounds, with the use of flattering back-lighting, influenced by Baron de Meyer.

    In this photograph Yvonne Gregory attitudinizes in the 'dazzle' costume which she wore to the Dazzle Ball held in London in 1919, and is posed against a 'dazzle' background. The Ball took its theme from dazzle-painting, a form of sea-camouflage which had been developed by the British during the war. It was intended not to hide ships, but to break up their outline and bewilder the enemy by the use of bold and eccentric designs. It is ironic that after the war it should be adopted by the world of fashion.

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1919back to top

Current affairs

Sir John William Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown pilot the first successful non-stop transatlantic flight from Newfoundland to Ireland, flying 1980 miles in their modified Vickers Vimy bomber plane in just over 16 hours. Their achievement won them a £10,000 prize from the Daily Mail newspaper.

Art and science

John Maynard Keynes publishes The Economic Consequences of the Peace, an influential economic text that criticised the harsh economic treatment of Germany at the Treaty of Versailles and predicted the destabilising effects of the vindictive settlement.

International

The Paris Peace Conference negotiates the peace treaties between the victorious and defeated powers. The Conference culminated in a number of treaties including the Treaty of Versailles, which granted independence for the countries under Austrian and Russian rule and forced Germany to accept responsibility for the war and pay reparations. It also established the League of Nations.

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