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Marguerite Kelsey's white column dress by Meredith Frampton

8/7/2020

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Marguerite Kelsey by Meredith Frampton, 1928, Tate Gallery, London
Marguerite Kelsey by Meredith Frampton, 1928, Tate Gallery, London
In 1928, British painter Meredith Frampton RA (17 March 1894 – 16 September 1984) painted the portrait of a woman in white dress, which features bateau neckline, short sleeves, and column silhouette. 

​The model's name is Marguerite Kelsey (11 January 1909 – 5 March 1995). 

She was born in 1909 in London and by the age of fifteen she had started her career as an artist's model.

She was renowned for her ability to hold a pose for a long time and in this case she appeared without a corset in the fashionable style known as "Las Garconne". 

In the painting, Frampton painted in smooth colours without visible brushstrokes, achieving a look of almost photographic realism, an effect achieved usually with lengthy period of time, sometimes as long as a whole year.

Marguerite Kelsey in white dress by Meredith Frampton, 1928, Tate Gallery, London
Marguerite Kelsey by Meredith Frampton, 1928, Tate Gallery, London
This painting is now in the Tate Museum in London and it has been described as the "epitome of modern classicism".
Marguerite Kelsey by Meredith Frampton, 1928, Tate Gallery, London
Meredith Frampton is very meticulous with the outfits of Marguerite Kelsey, ​both the dress and the red ballet shoes are chosen and supplied by the painter himself.
​
And it is not the first time Meredith Frampton chooses the outfits of his model. ​​
In 1935, when he painted Portrait of A Young Woman, Frampton not only had several of the objects in the painting made specially for the painting, his mother also made the dress worn by the model, Margaret Austin-Jones, which is a floor-length silk dress in ivory color with a pale pink wrap top.
Portrait of a young woman by Meredith Frampton modeled by Margaret Austin-Jones, 1935, Tate Gallery
Portrait of a young woman by Meredith Frampton modeled by Margaret Austin-Jones, 1935, Tate Gallery
Meredith Frampton was born in the St John's Wood area of London and was the only child of the sculptor Sir George Frampton and his wife, the painter Christabel Cockerell. Frampton was educated at Westminster School and went on to attend the Royal Academy Schools between 1912 and 1915, where he won both a first prize and a silver medal.

During the First World War, Frampton served in the British Army, and after the war Frampton resumed his artistic career and established himself as among the most highly regarded of British painters during the period. Frampton painted portraits of the Duke of York, who was to become King George VI, academics and scientists, and a series of full length portraits of women from fashionable society.  
A game of Patience by Meredith Frampton modeled by Marguerite Kelsey, 1937, Ferens Art Gallery in Hull
A game of Patience by Meredith Frampton modeled by Marguerite Kelsey, 1937, Ferens Art Gallery in Hull
In 1937 Marguerite Kelsey modeled again for Frampton and as a result he painted her with cards as "A Game of Patience".
She spent two decades in New Zealand and return to the United Kingdom in the early 1980s suffering with arthritis.

Besides Meredith Frampton, she also appears in notable works of art of other artists like Dame Laura Knight and Peter Edwards. And in 1994 Peter Edwards won the BP Portrait Award with Portrait of an Artist's Model (of Marguerite Kelsey) who was then in her eighties.

Kelsey died in High Wycombe in 1995.
Marguerite Kelsey portrait by Alan Beeton in 1936
Marguerite Kelsey portrait by Alan Beeton in 1936
In the 1950s, as his eyesight worsened, Frampton and his wife moved to a hilltop house overlooking Monkton Deverill in Wiltshire. Frampton had designed the property in the 1930s and for the rest of his life he worked on improving and maintaining this house, which included his own furniture and clock designs.

For many years Frampton's art was rarely shown in public and he was largely forgotten. However, he lived to see his retrospective at the Tate in 1982. It was his first one-man show and greatly restored his standing. Now Frampton's work is on display at the National Portrait Gallery, Tate Gallery and Imperial War Museum.

Further interest

Article
  • Meredith Frampton is the forgotten genius of British art
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