Sir John Lavery 1856-1941

Note by Professor Kenneth McConkey:

Following the exhibition of 'The Tennis Party' in 1886, Lavery worked on two large canvases depicting the retreat of Mary, Queen of Scots after the Battle of Langside, as well as two versions of Ariadne. Both required models, and while he tells about the beautiful young woman of Irish decent, named Bella Cullen, who modelled for Mary, it is clear that she was not the only model he used throughout 1887. Head studies and small paintings variously identify a 'Jeune Parisienne', and a 'Belle Americaine', while others were exhibited as 'One of the Queen's Marys' or 'A Fair Flower'. Close examination suggests that the present model is likely to be that used for 'A Fair Flower', a work exhibited in the Glasgow Institute in 1888.

Although based in Glasgow, Lavery attended exhibition openings in London where he met Whistler and consorted with some of the artists of the New English Art Club. While his movements are difficult to pin down, he was nevertheless in regular contact with Robert Macaulay Stevenson (1854-1952), one of the key members of the group later known as the 'Glasgow Boys'. Macaulay, as he was known to his friends, recalled that when colleagues considered moving to London or Paris, Lavery would insist that 'this [ie Glasgow] is the place', to make this happen. The city was of course 'the second city of the Empire' and among Laverys patrons were some of the most avant-garde collectors in Britain.

Thus, although the identity of the model in the present portrait remains to be confirmed, it was clearly a token of friendship. No one more than Stevenson was aware of Lavery's precocity. He would have admired the alluring quality of the present study - the splendid zig-zag of her lapels, the swift notation of her corsage and the hauteur with which she holds the gaze of the spectator. It would be entirely in character for the painter, observing his friend's admiration, to inscribe the picture 'à mon ami', and present it to him.