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A portrait of a woman in academic robes painted in a realistic style. The sitter is an adult white woman with rosy cheeks, light brown hair combed and tied back, looking directly out at the viewer with parted lips and smiling, bright eyes. She is wearing a black gown with a red and white striped sash which goes over her shoulders and comes to a point at her neck. The gown has 3 red round buttons down the front, wide flowing sleeves, and she wears a white shirt underneath. In her right hand she is holding a feather quill, and she has a ring on her ring finger on her left hand. She is seated in a red seat. The background of the painting is dark, there is the suggestion of a fireplace and a wooden folding screen behind her.

Dame Millicent Garrett Fawcett

Annie Swynnerton, painter
1908-1912 | WOA 7739

Details

Collection: Parliamentary Art Collection
Object type: Painting
Description: This portrait unites artist and sitter in the fight for women's suffrage. Millicent Garrett Fawcett (1847-1929) was the foremost campaigner in this fight and leader of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, who campaigned by 'constitutional' means. She led suffrage demonstrations and marches, regularly wearing the doctoral robes shown in this portrait. Annie Swynnerton (1844-1933) made history in 1922 as the first woman to be elected an associate of the Royal Academy of Arts since its founding in 1768. She was a passionate campaigner for women's suffrage and painted portraits of several of the movement's leading figures. Important patronage of her work came from the Garrett circle of family and friends, which included Fawcett.

Fawcett is shown in the academic robes of the University of St. Andrews, which awarded her an Honorary Doctorate in Law (LLD) for services to women's education in 1899, the first woman to be so honoured. Painted around 1910, the portrait may have been produced to record that occasion. Fawcett is shown holding a quill, likely sitting in her home in Gower Street, London. The portrait is related to a larger one in the Tate, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1930 and purchased with the Chantrey Bequest, described at the time as produced 'some twenty years' earlier for an admirer of the sitter who did not keep it. Swynnerton told the 'Daily Herald' in 1930 that the painting had been partly painted in the garden at Gower Street, which may account for the luminous light on Fawcett's face. The Tate version features more of the background and a different configuration for the sitter's hands.
Date Created: c.1910
Creator: Annie Swynnerton (1844-1933), painter
Dimensions: Canvas Depth mm; Canvas Width 613mm; Canvas Height 746mm; Framed Depth 65mm; Framed Width 841mm; Framed Height 970mm
Materials: Oil; Canvas
Technique: Oil painting

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Image copyright: UK Parliament
Object copyright: [Copyright] UK Parliament; Out of copyright