Hannah Ezra, Mrs David Gubbay (1885 - 1968)
Rex Whistler (Eltham 1905 - Normandy 1944)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1925 - 1944
Materials
Oil, canvas, wood
Measurements
445 x 368 mm (17 1/2 x 14 1/2 in)
Order this imageCollection
Clandon Park, Surrey
NT 1441528
Summary
[Destroyed in the fire of 2015] Oil painting on canvas, Hannah Ezra, Mrs David Gubbay (1885 - 1968) by Rex (Reginald) John Whistler (Eltham 1905 - Normandy 1944). A half-length portrait of a young woman, seated ona a chintz covered chair, turned slightly to the left, gazing at the spectator, dark hair tied up, arms folded, wearing a short-sleeved maroon dress, pearl necklet and pearl earrings. Chintz curtains. Hannah Gubbay was the daughter of E. D. Ezra and Mozelle Sassoon; a member of one of the richest and most cultivated Jewish families in Europe. Brought up in Bombay and London, Gubbay settled in London. Described by John Pope-Hennessy in her Times obituary as a 'collector of genius'. This collection she bequeathed to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and to the National Trust for display, ultimately, at Clandon Park, Surrey. Gubbay was not satisfied with colleccting as a private pursuit, as demonstrated by the ten public exhibitions she curated at her cousin, Sir Philip Sassoon's house in Park Lane, London between 1928-1938. These exhibitions were on a range of themes drawing loans from private collections across the UK to raise money for the Royal Northern Hospital, London. Gubbay's first cousin, Sir Philip Sassoon, commissioned artist Rex Whistler to paint murals at his villa Port Lymne, Kent in the 1920s.
Provenance
Presented by Miss Hammond This is likely to be Elsie Hammond, one of Hannah Gubbay's servants and a beneficiary in her will
Makers and roles
Rex Whistler (Eltham 1905 - Normandy 1944) , artist