Dorothy Brett
Dorothy Eugenie Brett (born November 10, 1883 in London , † August 24, 1977 ) was a British or - after her naturalization in 1938 - American painter .
Life
She was the third child of Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher , and his wife Eleanor van de Weyer.
In her youth she was allowed little contact with other children and young people; The dance classes she took with the children of the royal family were an exception.
When Dorothy was 23 years old, she was sent to the family's Scottish summer home to cut off her parents' reluctant contact with Margaret Brooke and her family. There General Sir Ian Hamilton saw some of her drawings and got her parents to give her lessons at the Slade School of Fine Art .
From the four years at the Slade School, in which she studied together with Dora Carrington , Mark Gertler and David Bomberg , her habit of referring to herself only by her last name arose. The acquaintance with Augustus John and Lady Ottoline Morrell also fell during her time at the Slade School.
Her father soon financed her own studio, not only to show himself as a patron, but also to keep the eccentric daughter and her friends away from the family.
During the years at Slade School, Brett developed a hearing impairment that eventually forced her to use a hearing aid. He is described in a short story by D. H. Lawrence , whose acquaintance she made in October 1915. After attending Slade School, Brett initially lived mainly near Oxford, where she was part of the Bloomsbury Group . In 1919 her parents gave her a house, a Hampstead and an annual allowance that made her independent.
The return of the Lawrence couple from North America in 1923 changed their life: Lawrence found Taos as the ideal place to found his Rananim commune . In 1924 Brett traveled there with the couple and became at home there. Even after Lawrence died in 1930, she stayed with his widow Frieda. Another important caregiver - and patron - in Taos was Mable Dodge Luhan .
Works
Brett's paintings from New Mexico depict Native Americans. Her ceremonials , pictures painted after studying in the Pueblo of Taos, are perhaps her most famous works.
Many of Dorothy Brett's works are preserved in the Ransom Center's Dorothy Brett Art Collection. They include u. a. Portraits of Aldous Huxley, D. H. Lawrence, and Robinson Jeffers . Brett's paintings are also in the Spud Johnson Collection and the William Goyen Collection, as well as in the Tate Gallery , the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts .
Publications
- Lawrence and Brett: A Friendship . JP Lippincott, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA 1933
literature
- Sean Hignett: Brett. From Bloomsbury to New Mexico; a biography . Hodder & Stoughton, London 1984, ISBN 0-340-22973-X .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Brett, Dorothy |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Brett, Dorothy Eugenie (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British-American painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 10, 1883 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 24, 1977 |
| Place of death | Taos , New Mexico |