Madame Yevonde - Goddesses series, 1935

Lady Millbank as Penthesilea, Queen of the Amazons

Referencing classicism and ancient mythology, Madame Yevondes’ images from her Goddesses series, 1935, seem theatrical and stylish, sometimes with a touch of high camp humour. They display to me, a love of props, dressing up and dramatic posing. Technically adept and innovative, she used studio lighting and championed the Vivex colour process from its invention in the early 1930’s, until the factory manufacturing and processing the system closed down in 1939. In 1932 she held the first exhibition of photographic colour portrait work in England.

Eileen Hunter (Mrs Ward Jackson) as Dido

Incredibly staged, I read that the series reinforces her past suffragette leanings, posing the subjects as heroines or powerful goddesses. It is interesting that she was well connected, her subjects were beautiful, glamorous, upper class society women or well known actresses. I wonder if her exhibition/reputation would have been so successful if her sitters had been normal women. I can't help thinking of, for example, Sam Taylor Wood...

“Be original or die”
- Madame Yevonde

The Yevonde portrait archive: http://www.users.waitrose.com/~felice/

Benham Gallery Seattle: http://www.benhamgallery.com/artists/yevonde.html
National Portrait Gallery: http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person.php?LinkID=mp06547&role=art