Beschreibung:

Martin Battersby (1914-1982) A set of six panels depicting chapters from the life of Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich and Lady Diana Cooper (née Manners), Viscountess Norwich Acrylic on aluminium. 104 ¾ x 42 ¾ in. (266 x 108.5 cm.) Martin Battersby was a British artist, renowned for his trompe l’oeil paintings and set decoration. His first commission was for the production of Hamlet at the Old Vic starring Laurence Olivier in 1938. In the 1940s, he briefly worked as an assistant designer to the great Cecil Beaton, although their relationship ended acrimoniously. Alongside his theatrical designs, Battersby developed his career as an artist with his first one man show in 1948 at the Brook Street Gallery. He became famous for his trompe l’oeil compositions which, as in the current series of works, frequently included theatrical masks and sphinxes. He went on to have exhibitions on both sides of the Atlantic, including those at Arthur Jeffress Gallery, Redfern Gallery, the Hanover Gallery and the Grosvenor Gallery, amongst others. The fifties and sixties saw Battersby enjoying great popularity with numerous prestigious patrons and a steady flow of public and private commissions including the Carlyle Hotel in New York for which he created the decor for the ballroom. The present works represent one of the more elaborate of these. Created for Lady Diana Cooper’s home at the Chateau de Saint Firmin in Chantilly, it epitomises Battersby’s skill as a trompe l’oeil artist whilst creating a playful depiction of the life of the family for which it was created. Lady Diana was a famously glamourous society figure and actress, renowned in both London and Paris. She moved in intellectual and artistic circles, building relationships with many of the artists of the day, including Cecil Beaton with whom she formed a lifelong friendship. Lady Diana’s son, John Julius, recalled that one of the downstairs rooms of the Chantilly house had bolection mouldings framing empty spaces and it was to fill these walls that his mother commissioned Martin Battersby to design this series of murals which were installed around 1949-50. The six panels depict different chapters from the life of Alfred Duff Cooper, later 1st Viscount Norwich and Lady Diana and comprises five large panels and one over-door panel. Each panel takes as its inspiration a different aspect of the family’s life: the depiction of Lady Diana in the role of the Madonna in director Max Reinhardt’s revival of ‘The Miracle’; Duff Cooper’s time as First Lord of the Admiralty; the family trip to Algiers in 1944; the early life of their son, John Julius; the period at the British Embassy in Paris when Duff Cooper was Ambassador to France from 1944-47 and finally, the smaller panel, which is dedicated to the pleasures of life. The works remained with Lady Diana until her death in 1986, moving from Chantilly to her dining room in her house in Little Venice. They provided a constant playful reminder of a life well lived, full of glamour and charm. Provenance: Property of The Viscount Norwich and Lady Diana Cooper Refer to the online PFD of the catalogue for further information (Lots 1 - 169)