Mrs South Kensington

Mrs South Kensington was a response to public events over 1935–1936, when the nation happily celebrated a quarter-century under George V, then was quickly flung into mourning over his death. Dobell’s oil depicts one of that host of mature women, with their air of self-importance, who styled themselves after Queen Mary. Resident in well-mannered flats or triple-storey terraces across Knightsbridge, Chelsea and emerged en masse upon the King’s demise, and seemed to stand out like ornamental aspidistras among the reverential crowds beholding his funeral procession. The artist made quick sketches of these dignified women pecking at sandwiches in Lyons’ tearooms and strutting through parks in Kensington, then worked up his telling painting.