John Christie

1 portrait by Cornell Capa

© Cornell Capa. International Center of Photography/Magnum Photos

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John Christie

by Cornell Capa
bromide print, 1951
13 3/8 in. x 10 3/8 in. (340 mm x 263 mm)
Purchased, 1988
Primary Collection
NPG P358

Sitterback to top

  • John Christie (1882-1962), Founder of Glyndebourne Opera. Sitter in 4 portraits.

Artistback to top

  • Cornell Capa (1918-2008), Photographer. Artist or producer of 1 portrait.

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. 259 Read entry

    John Christie could seem impossibly eccentric, but in reality he had an extraordinary ability, by virtue of his energy and enthusiasm, to reconcile the ideal with the practical. In the 1920s at Glyndebourne, his house in Sussex, he installed a cathedral organ (buying up an organ company in the process), and began to give concerts, and when in 1931 he married the operatic soprano Audrey Mildmay he decided to build an opera house there. Thus Glyndebourne Opera was founded. Public reaction was incredulous, but, with his conductor Fritz Busch and the producer Carl Ebert, the opening season (1934) proved a triumphant success. The years which followed had many ups and downs, and it was not until 1950, the year before this photograph, that support from the John Lewis Partnership ensured the future of Glyndebourne and its festival. Its name is now known internationally as the home of country-house opera, and above all for productions of Mozart.

    Cornell Capa (born Kornel Friedmann in Budapest), brother of the photographer of war Robert Capa, emigrated to the United States in 1937, and spent most of his career as a photo-journalist working for Life magazine. His subject is people, and he tackles them with directness and vitality, so that, as in the case of Christie, they almost burst from the picture space. This photograph, taken as part of a session for Life magazine, shows Christie teasing a favourite pug. His son Sir George Christie, the present Chairman of Glyndebourne, has described it as 'extremely characteristic. He liked to bring the worst out of his pugs and he achieved this unfailingly'.

Events of 1951back to top

Current affairs

The Conservative Party wins the general election and Winston Churchill returns for a second term as prime minister.

Art and science

On the centenary of the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Festival of Britain is held as a nationwide celebration of British culture, and as an impetus for post-war regeneration. As well as various art, science and industrial exhibitions and events, a major regeneration project was initiated for the South Bank area of London under the directorship of the architect, Hugh Casson.

International

Libya declares its sovereignty from Italian rule, becoming the first independent state to be created by the UN.
At the Treaty of San Francisco, 48 nations sign a peace treaty with Japan, officially ending the Pacific War - the last battleground of the Second World War.

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