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Dame Gladys Cooper

3 of 174 portraits of Dame Gladys Cooper

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Dame Gladys Cooper

by Curtis Moffat
chlorobromide print, 1925
11 1/4 in. x 9 5/8 in. (285 mm x 244 mm)
Purchased, 1990
Primary Collection
NPG P430

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Curtis Moffat (1887-1949), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 11 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Dame Gladys Cooper made her stage debut in 1905 before joining the Gaiety Theatre as a chorus girl. In 1916, she began to act at the Playhouse, a theatre that she was later to manage. This portrait by New York photographer Curtis Moffat was made at the time when Cooper played the title role in Peter Pan; it shows a combination of glamour and informality. Moffat had been an assistant to Man Ray before setting up his own studio in London in 1925 where he produced portraits of notable figures of the day.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • 100 Photographs, 2018, p. 59 Read entry

    Dame Gladys Cooper (1888-1971) made her stage debut in 1905, before joining the Gaiety Theatre as a chorus girl. In 1916 she began to act at the Playhouse, the London theatre that she was later to manage. This portrait by New York photographer Curtis Moffat (1887-1949) was taken at the time when Cooper played the title role in Peter Pan; it shows a combination of glamour and informality. Like Bill Brandt and Lee Miller, also included in this book, Moffat had been an assistant to Man Ray. Moffat set up his own studio in London in 1925, where he produced portraits of notable figures of the day.

  • Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 143

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

Events of 1925back to top

Current affairs

On the advice of the Governor of the Bank of England, Montagu Norman, Winston Churchill returns British currency to the Gold Standard. This caused deflation across the empire as the value of the pound returned to the pre-war gold price, leading to unemployment, the miners' strike and the general strike in 1926.

Art and science

John Logie Baird transmits the first television images of a ventriloquist's dummy. The BBC used Logie Baird's invention from 1927 until 1935 when they adopted EMI-Marconi's superior electronic scanning system.
Virginia Woolf publishes her innovative 'stream of consciousness' novel, Mrs Dalloway, which chronicles a day in the life of the protagonist through her interior monologue.

International

Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs represents Britain at the Locarno Treaties. Lorcano secured the post-war territorial settlement and established pledges of non-aggression between various European Nations. The 'spirit of Locarno' helped secure Germany's admission into the League of Nations in 1926. Chamberlain was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his part in the peace agreement.

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