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CATHOLIC ALTARPIECE EXECUTED BY KENNETH SHOESMITH IN THE CABIN CLASS DRAWING ROOM

© The Yevonde Portrait Archive

CATHOLIC ALTARPIECE EXECUTED BY KENNETH SHOESMITH IN THE CABIN CLASS DRAWING ROOM 1936

Madame Yevonde (1893 – 1975)

Details

Dimension
50.7 X 40.6 CM
Media
PERMAPRINT DYE-TRANSFER PRINT FROM ORIGINAL NEG
Accession number
P6985

Summary

This painting, Madonna of the Atlanticby Kenneth Shoesmith was situated in the Cabin Class drawing room of the Queen Mary and was concealed behind folding screens featuring a harbour scenes, by the same artist, except for times when the room was used as a chapel. At the forward end of the room was an altar, with adjoining sacristy and robing room.

This series was commissioned by Fortune magazine in 1936. Yevonde was instructed to photograph the last days of the fitting out of the Queen Mary: a brand new luxury liner. She was one of the largest and fastest ocean liners and represented the pinnacle of ship building. Put into service in 1936, she captured the public imagination and came to represent the spirit of era characterised by elegance and style. Her art deco interior, decorated with specially commissioned works by British painters and sculptors, was renowned for its exquisite craftsmanship. She made her final voyage in December 1967 and is now sited at Long Beach in California.

Madame Yevonde Be Original or Die, The British Council 1998

 

Glossary

  • Drawing

    The depiction of shapes and forms on a flat surface chiefly by means of lines although colour and shading may also be included. Materials most commonly used are pencil, ink, crayon, charcoal, chalk and pastel, although other materials, including paint, can be used in combination.

  • Painting

    Work of art made with paint on a surface. Often the surface, also called a support, is a tightly stretched piece of canvas, paper or a wooden panel. Painting involves a wide range of techniques and materials, along with the artist's intellectual concerns effecting the content of a work.

  • Photograph

    A permanent image taken by means of the chemical action of light on light-sensitive surfaces.