Lot 12
  • 12

Sir John Lavery, R.A., R.S.A., R.H.A.

Estimate
40,000 - 60,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Sir John Lavery, R.A., R.S.A., R.H.A.
  • Edna May in the belle of new york
  • signed and titled l.l.: EDNA MAY / IN "THE BELLE OF NEW YORK"/ J. Lavery; also signed, dated and inscribed on the reverse: MISS EDNA MAY/ AS THE BELLE OF NEW YORK/ JOHN LAVERY/ 5 CROMWELL PLACE/ LONDON/ 1907
  • oil on canvas
  • 77 by 64cm.; 30¼ by 25¼in.

Provenance

Jane May and Marguerite Eardley Wilmot, the sister's of Edna May, until 1951
Sale, Christie's London, 10 May 1974, lot 231, where acquired by Stone Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne

Exhibited

Leeds, 1909 (details untraced).

Literature

Walter Shaw Sparrow, John Lavery and his Art, not dated [1912], Kegan Paul, Trubner, Trench and Co,  pp. 187-8.

Condition

The following condition report has been prepared by Hamish Dewar Ltd, 13 & 14 Mason's Yard, Duke Street, St James's, London, SW1Y 6BU: UNCONDITIONAL AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE Structural Condition The canvas is unlined on the original stretcher and is inscribed on the reverse and is providing a secure and stable structural support. Paint surface The paint surface has a cloudy and uneven varnish layer and would undoubtedly respond very well to cleaning and revarnishing. No retouchings are visible under ultra-violet light. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in excellent and original condition and should be transformed by cleaning and revarnishing. Please contact the department on 0207 293 5575 if you have any questions about the present lot.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Lavery's portrait of Edna May is essentially an artistic envoi to a beautiful American star of the London stage. Although he had painted other actresses in 1907 - Pauline Chase (sold Sotheby's 13 May 2005), Maggie Teyte (sold Sotheby's 16 May 1996) and Lily Elsie (National Museum of Fine Arts, Chile) - none was quite so famous as Edna May Pettie (1878-1948). Born in Syracuse, New York, she was the precocious daughter of a postman who first demonstrated her theatrical abilities at the age of five and was performing in Gilbert and Sullivan at seven. She made her professional debut in New York in 1895 when she was seventeen. For Lavery's portrait, she donned the costume of her most famous role, that of Violet Grey in The Belle of New York, a musical comedy by Hugh Morton and Gustave Kerker, produced in 1897 (see fig. 1).

This is the story of a Salvation Army girl who finds that she is about to be named as the sole beneficiary of Ichabod Bronson, a wealthy man whose spendthrift son, Harry, she has 'saved'. In order to restore the fortune to its rightful heir she must persuade the elder Bronson that she is less devout than she seems, and she does so by singing a 'sinful' song about the Folies Bergère in his hearing. By this time, and with his inheritance restored, Violet and Harry have fallen in love and the play ends happily. With its theme of wealth encountering the higher values of Christianity, represented by a Salvation Army convert, The Belle of New York is likely to have provided the inspiration for Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara (1905).  

Although well received, The Belle of New York ran for only 64 performances at the Casino Theatre, and it was only when it transferred from New York to the Shaftesbury Theatre in London that it became a runaway success. Edna May experienced the rapturous applause that brought her instant stardom and in her black tunic and red bonnet, she played to full houses for almost two years. Thereafter her reputation grew on both sides of the Atlantic. When, in 1907, with her impending marriage to the New York millionaire 'Copper King', Oscar Lewisohn, she announced her retirement, young male devotees apparently unhitched the horses from her carriage and pulled it from the Aldwych Theatre to the Ritz Hotel, where she was dining. The Lewisohns then settled into the social round, living at Cranborne Court in Berkshire. Edna made a number of brief returns to the stage for benefit performances and like Hazel Lavery, appeared in war charity Masques. At this point William Orpen painted her portrait which was offered in these rooms, 13 May 2004, lot 63 (see fig. 2).

Lewisohn died in 1917 leaving Edna a substantial fortune of $5,000,000. Lavery however, represents her in happier days as the virtuous young heroine wearing the costume that she had made famous in postcards and song sheets. With downcast eyes, she adopts the demure expression that her part demanded. Two other portraits of Edna May are recorded – one a large full-length, the other, Edna May in Black, in which she is shown looking over her left shoulder. Both remain unlocated.  For the painter, her crimped hair and fine oval face, so much admired, may well have recalled Mary Auras, his most celebrated model prior to the arrival in 1909, of his second wife, Hazel. 

Kenneth McConkey