Lady ottoline morrell

Name variations: Lady Ottoline Morrell. May 18,Hugh died three days later.

Perhaps Oscar Wilde lived up to his own dictum: "One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art. Six foot tall, with reams of copper-red hair, turquoise eyes, a long nose and jutting jaw, she wore clothes that had little to do with fashion but everything to do with originality. She also inspired many artists, particularly Augustus John. Her own passion was for clothes - distinctive, sumptuous, relating as much to the baroque styles of her aristocratic ancestors as they did to the Edwardian fashions of her day. The Museum of Costume in Bath recently acquired much of her wardrobe - the archive of her dress and accessories - which illuminates not only her character but also an aspect of the dress of a section of society who made anti-fashion part of their identity. The Morrell collection now at Bath represents a sartorial attempt to create an alternative world. What emerges from the collection is an indication that Ottoline Morrell was glamorous, idiosyncratic and elegant: not the mad, rather grungy eccentric we have been led to believe.

Lady ottoline morrell

Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befriended writers including Aldous Huxley , Siegfried Sassoon , T. Eliot and D. Lady Ottoline's great-great-uncle through her paternal grandmother, Lady Charles Bentinck was the 1st Duke of Wellington. Through her father, Arthur, she was a first cousin once removed of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother , and thus a first cousin twice removed of Queen Elizabeth II , both of whom descended from Arthur's brother Charles Cavendish-Bentinck. Ottoline was granted the rank of a daughter of a duke with the courtesy title of "Lady" soon after her half-brother William succeeded to the Dukedom of Portland in , [2] [3] at which time the family moved into Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire. The dukedom was a title which belonged to the head of the Cavendish-Bentinck family and which passed to Lady Ottoline's branch upon the death of their cousin, the 5th Duke of Portland , in December In , Ottoline began studying political economy and Roman history as an out-student at Somerville College, Oxford. Morrell was known to have had many lovers. Her first love affair was with an older man, the physician and writer Axel Munthe , [5] but she rejected his impulsive proposal of marriage because her spiritual beliefs were incompatible with his atheism. In February , she married the MP Philip Morrell , [6] with whom she shared a passion for art and a strong interest in Liberal politics. They had what would now be known as an open marriage for the rest of their lives. Philip's extramarital affairs produced several children who were cared for by his wife, who also struggled to conceal evidence of his mental instability. Morrell had a long affair with philosopher Bertrand Russell , [9] [10] with whom she exchanged more than 3, letters. In her later years she had a brief affair with a gardener, Lionel Gomme, who was employed at Garsington. Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterley's Lover.

In her usual way, Morrell took charge of promoting the careers of the Jewish artist, Mark Gertler, and of D. During World War Ilady ottoline morrell Morrells were pacifists. She was collecting authors to the end of her days: the sale includes an inscribed first edition of Graham Greene's dire first collection of verse, Babbling April.

Adolf de Meyer American, born France. Not on view. Adolph de Meyer's portrait of Lady Ottoline Morrell, eccentric hostess to Bloomsbury, is a stunning summation of the character of this aristocratic lady who aspired to live "on the same plane as poetry and as music. Yeats, D. Lawrence, T. Tall, wearing fantastic, scented, vaguely Elizabethan clothes, Lady Ottoline made an unforgettable impression. With her dyed red hair, patrician nose, and jutting jaw, she could look, according to Lord David Cecil, at one and the same moment beautiful and grotesque.

Name variations: Lady Ottoline Morrell. May 18, , Hugh died three days later. Successfully campaigned on behalf of husband Philip Morrell for Parliament ; held salon on Bedford Square, London —15 ; began affair with Augustus John ; began affair with Henry Lamb ; met Lytton Strachey ; began affair with Bertrand Russell ; bought Garsington Manor ; met D. Lady Ottoline Morrell was indeed a lady, a titled English aristocrat who spurned her illustrious lineage to become a patron of budding literary and artistic talents of the early 20th century. She was eccentric, flamboyant, possessive, generous, and unconventional, a tall, imposing figure dressed in gaudy, rather disheveled, ornate costumes that drew curious stares even on the streets of London. A descendant of two old, eminent noble families, the Cavendishs and the Bentincks, Ottoline's father was in line to become duke of Portland, to inherit vast estates in England and Scotland, as well as the family manor of Welbeck. However, he died unexpectedly in , when Ottoline was four years old, and her half-brother Arthur assumed the title. Ottoline lived at Welbeck with her mother and three older brothers, Henry, William, and Charles, until the duke married in Largely ignored by her considerably older siblings, Morrell recalled that she never felt "gay.

Lady ottoline morrell

A cache of unpublished letters from the novelist Virginia Woolf and scores of first editions inscribed by leading writers and poets of the early 20th century has emerged in the contents of the library of Lady Ottoline Morrell, the society hostess who became one of the most flamboyant, loved and mocked associates of the Bloomsbury group. Lady Ottoline was extremely well connected - her first cousin was Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, the future Queen Mother - and her friendships and affairs were legendary in her day and since. Her unmistakable figure, six foot tall with flaming red hair and usually dressed as flamboyantly as a parrot, stalks through books and works of art of the period. The archive - which includes hundreds of books, many rare first editions, letters, photographs and paintings including a grim series of first world war scenes by the poet Siegfried Sassoon - has remained in her family since her death in , but is to be sold next month at a Christie's auction. She kept open house in London and at Garsington, her Jacobean mansion in Oxfordshire, and many treated her homes almost as a club.

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Ottoline was anxious about her ability to converse with a man of his intellect whom she did not know well. Late in life, Virginia Woolf came to recognise these qualities, and to repent of some of her former ridicule. Despite poor health for which she under-went the most noxious treatments, Morrell kept her Thursday at homes and continued her involvement with Russell and former lovers. I seem to have tried everyone and found them all wanting. The characteristic of every house in which Ottoline lived was its smell and the smell of Garsington was stronger than that of Bedford Square. Yeats, Sassoon, and the rest — but they were not on show, not caged. To avoid being seen, he had mined into the foundations of the house, constructing tunnels and rooms, including a magnificent underground riding school lined with chandeliers. She was a demanding and oppressive mother, she could be tyrannical in her desire to control the lives of her friends, and she was reckless in her gossip about other people's private opinions. Ill-prepared for college-level work, she registered for a class in logic—a poor choice since Ottoline's mind was never logical. Vanessa Curtis argues: "Their affair, which lasted for the next five years, was bet with problems and imbalances from the start Clothes for Ottoline had always been an obsession; her earliest memory is of bursting into tears because her brothers said a dress made her look fat. Eliot , who received a lot of help from Ottoline early in his career admitted that "it is very difficult to think of anyone who meant so much to me". What is of especial interest now that the collection has come to light is how the clothes are not entirely bohemian. Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded. It was a brief but intense affair and was eventually brought to to an end because of religious differences.

Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befriended writers including Aldous Huxley , Siegfried Sassoon , T.

Once again she became a part of high society, a society which, Morrell regretted, "did not admit of thought or individuality, or indeed of liberty or cherishing any delicate ideas. Edited by Carolyn G. She had sunk from being one of the most remarkable and influential women of her time to the level of caricature: "It is like sitting beneath an arum lily; with a thick golden bar in the middle," wrote Virginia Woolf in , "dropping pollen, or whatever that is which seduces the male bee. Learn more about this artwork. Medium: Platinum print. Her amazing looks were at once sexy and grotesque: she was very tall, with a huge head of copper-coloured hair, turquoise eyes and great beaky features. This "gross betrayal" was followed by another demeaning portrayal by Huxley. Ottoline also received advice from the art collector, Edward Marsh and the writer, Gilbert Cannan. But Ottoline needed to cling to habit, to friends, in order to relieve her anxiety about the perils Britain faced. He often stayed at Garsington during his leaves from active duty.