Mary McEvoy (British, 1870-1940) Portrait of Mrs Patrick Campbell 76.2 x 55.9 cm. (30 x 22 in.)

Mary McEvoy (British, 1870-1940) Portrait of Mrs Patrick Campbell signed with monogram (lower left) oil on canvas 76.2 x 55.9 cm. (30 x 22 in.) Footnotes: Provenance Cyril Cusack Private Collection, U.K. Born Beatrice Stella Tanner, Mrs Patrick Campbell was one of the stars of the West End and Broadway either side of the turn of the twentieth century. After her breakthrough role in The Second Mrs Tanguery at St James Theatre in 1893, in which she left a deep impression on a captivated Oscar Wilde, she established herself as a Thespian mainstay, playing Juliet, Ophelia and Lady Macbeth in a series of Shakespeare productions in the late 1890s. Trips to America, beginning in 1901, would cement her standing on both sides of the Atlantic, maintaining her now-famous stage name of 'Mrs Patrick Campbell' beyond the death of her husband in the Boer war and her re-marriage. Charismatic and with striking looks taken after her mother, Maria Luigia Giovanna, 'Mrs Pat', as she was known, kept company with playwrights and intellectuals such as George Bernard Shaw, who wrote Pygmalion (1913) with her in mind for the lead role of Eliza Doolittle. The present work is one of a number of portraits of Mrs Patrick Campbell, but is distinct among them in tone and atmosphere. Where others, such as Sir John Lavery's portrait of 1912, carry a more conventional air, with the sitter formally posed, looking indirectly beyond the viewer under a hat or overcoat, Mary McEvoy's portrait presents her in a casual, nonchalant pose. She looks directly at the viewer with a confident, assertive gaze that shows a relaxed, at-ease and self-secure nature – one brought out by McEvoy more than any other. McEvoy's intimate, empathetic and astute handling of the portrait are typical of an artist who wedded such skills of personal observation with an excellent sense of mood and palette. McEvoy studied at the Slade School of Art, where she met Ambrose McEvoy, who she would marry in 1902. Friends with Augustus John and Jacob Epstein, McEvoy regularly exhibited with the New English Art Club, who were championing a progressive, open-minded attitude to visual style and ideas. The couple met Walter Sickert in 1909, who had an influence on both of their styles in the years afterwards, hints of which are discernible here. Portrait of Mrs Patrick Campbell was in the collection of Irish actor Cyril Cusack, who took a major interest in Bernard Shaw and owned several works relating to the playwright. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing