Lady ottoline morrell

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 lady ottoline morrell, 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.

A cache of unpublished letters from the novelist Virginia Woolf and scores of first editions inscribed by leading writers and poets of the early 20th century has emerged in the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. Among the letters to be sold is one to her from Woolf. Woolf wondered: "How on earth does Ottoline suck enough nourishment out of the solitary male?

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.

But "the utter vapidity of the life of an upper-class lady" that Morrell witnessed at Welbeck influenced her future decisions. On May 17,Morrell moved permanently to Garsington, which lady ottoline morrell the new center for her gatherings. This was a shock to Ottoline, lady ottoline morrell, but it did not affect the immense loyalty that they both had to the marriage, which stood the test of time and was strong enough to survive their considerably involved love affairs with other people.

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.

A century and eight years ago, an aristocrat and her middle class husband moved into number 44 Bedford Square. Lady Ottoline Morrell was what modern jargon would call a facilitator, and the Edwardians called a patroness. In Bedford Square, and at her country house in Oxfordshire, she hosted artists of many kinds — introducing them to each other, giving them presents, and offering her friendship. Moore, John Singer Sergeant, G. Lawrence, Duncan Grant, W. Yeats, L. After reading the novel Ottoline broke off relations with D. Lawrence for a decade. Why did they ridicule her? Miranda Seymour, in her excellent biography, suggests that they placed a premium on a kind of integrity which was violated by her attempted discretion about her affairs notably that with Bertrand Russell.

Lady ottoline morrell

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. From her death in until the publication of her biography by Miranda Seymour - Ottoline Morrell, Life On a Grand Scale - Morrell has been seen through what Seymour calls the "distorting" eyes of the Bloomsbury Group in their copious letters, diaries and memoirs. 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. What is of especial interest now that the collection has come to light is how the clothes are not entirely bohemian.

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At age 27, Morrell realized that travel could not satisfy her "inner life"; Hilda saw marriage as the ultimate fulfillment, but Ottoline firmly rejected it as "a new kind of bondage. In she was having an affair with Augustus John; by she was in love with Henry Lamb, for whom Lytton Strachey also developed a passion. One of the members of this group, Frances Partridge , later recalled in her autobiography, Memories : "They were not a group, but a number of very different individuals, who shared certain attitudes to life, and happened to be friends or lovers. I spent a wretched time here since I wrote this letter to you. The loose association of writers, artists and intellectuals came together in the early 20th century. Most viewed. I believe in many women there is a strong intuitive feeling of pride in their solitary life so that when marriage comes it is, to a certain extent, a humiliation. Lady Ottoline Morrell was what modern jargon would call a facilitator, and the Edwardians called a patroness. He had always been embarrassed by Ottoline's "old clothes". She wore fantastical highly-coloured clothes and hats with great style and bravado. Although Ottoline belonged to a grand family, she and her husband were not rich but "comfortable".

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.

This was his third. Roger Fry , who accepted a large sum of money from Ottoline towards help for his mentally ill wife, began to fall in love with her. Only later did she recognise that her compulsion to present such a dramatic appearance made her more isolated: "It's no fun being an oddity for it makes one eternally lonely," she wrote in her diary. Public Domain. Jeanne A. However, he died unexpectedly in , when Ottoline was four years old, and her half-brother Arthur assumed the title. During the s, Morrell continued to travel on the Continent, and in , she and Philip went to India where they received a royal reception. Tools Tools. Ottoline Morrell died on April 21, , after a nurse gave her an injection of the drug. But Morrell grew increasingly unhappy, disillusioned, and cynical.