AFTER MARION MARGARET VIOLET MANNERS (BRITISH 1856-1937)

AFTER MARION MARGARET VIOLET MANNERS (BRITISH 1856-1937)
Iris
monogrammed and dated 1899 (lower left) and titled (lower right)
photogravure
12.5 x 10.2 cm

Marion Margaret Violet Manners (née Lindsay) was an English artist and noblewoman. Granddaughter of the 24^th Earl of Crawford, she married in 1886 Henry Manners, son of the 7^th Duke of Rutland and a conservative politician of that time. She was stylised Marchioness of Granby from 1888 to 1906 and afterwards she became Duchess of Rutland. She had five children, including John Manners, the 9^th Duke of Rutland, and Lady Diana Cooper, Viscountess Norwich, a famous socialite and member of the Coterie group.
She received no formal training as an artist, during her life she exhibited at Grosvenor Gallery, the Royal Academy of Arts and the New Gallery. Her main works were portraits and depictions of members of her social circle. After the death of her first child, she began sculpting as well. She was also an active member of the elite intellectual group The Souls, other members were the prime minister Arthur Balfour and George Wyndham.

The sitter portrayed at the age of two is Iris Tree, daughter of the actors Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and Helen Maud, Lady Tree. She was a poet, actress and artists’ model, known of her bobbed hair. She was painted by several artists including Augustus John, Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell and Roger Fry, and sculpted by Jacob Epstein. She later appeared as herself in Federico Fellini’s film Dolce Vita (1960).