Euphemia Lamb (''née'' Annie Euphemia Forrest; 1887 – 1957) was an English artists' model and the wife of painter

Henry Lamb Henry Taylor Lamb (21 June 1883 – 8 October 1960) was an Australian-born British painter. A follower of Augustus John, Lamb was a founder member of the Camden Town Group in 1911 and of the London Group in 1913. Early life Henry Lamb was bo ...

. She modelled for

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...

and

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produc ...

and came to exemplify the sexual freedom of the

bohemian lifestyle Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people and with few permanent ties. It involves musical, artistic, literary, or spiritual pursuits. In this context, bohemians may be wanderers, a ...

of the early twentieth century. Henry Lamb called her Euphemia, by which name she was generally known.

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...

commented that Euphemia had more of a sex life "than the rest of us put together". She was one of the lovers of the

occultist The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism an ...

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pro ...

Early life

Forrest was born in 1887 in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, as Annie Euphemia Forrest, the daughter of Arthur Forrest. She was married under the name Nina Euphemia Forrest in 1906. She claimed that she was born on a steamship bound for Bombay, but there is no independent verification of this, and her birth was registered in Lancashire. Her middle name was actually Euphemia, casting doubt on the claim that she got this name because

perceived in her a likeness to

Saint Euphemia Euphemia ( el, Εὐφημία; "well-spoken f), known as the All-praised in the Eastern Orthodox Church, was a virgin, who was martyred for her faith at Chalcedon in 303 AD. According to tradition, Euphemia was arrested for refusing to offer ...

.''Euphemia Lamb'', 1908.
Tate. Retrieved 27 October 2014. She was raised in Greenheys, a poor district of Manchester known as a centre for prostitution. Her working-class accent, however, was not to everyone's taste, and Viva King, another bohemian, said of one of Jacob Epstein's busts of Euphemia, "I fancy I can hear, through the open mouth, her ugly voice".

Henry Lamb

Nina Forrest met the Australian-born

in 1905 in Manchester, where he was at medical school. They left for London as soon as they could. Henry enrolled at the Chelsea School of Art that had recently been established by

and

William Orpen Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, (27 November 1878 – 29 September 1931) was an Irish artist who worked mainly in London. Orpen was a fine draughtsman and a popular, commercially successful painter of portraits for the well-to-do in ...

and they attended the Friday Club run by Vanessa Stephen. Supposedly, Henry renamed Nina "Euphemia" because she reminded him of

in the painting by

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order ...

They married in May 1906 after she became pregnant, but she lost the baby due to a miscarriage.

Artists' model

Euphemia was one of the models who networked at the

Café Royal A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

before the First World War, occupying a grey area between professional model and prostitute.Gardiner, Stephen. (1993) ''Epstein: Artist Against the Establishment''. London: Flamingo, p. 74. Her contemporaries included

Betty May Betty May (born Bessie Golding 1894, died after 1955) was a British singer, dancer, and model, who worked primarily in London's West End of London, West End. She was a member of the London Bohemianism, Bohemian set of the inter-war years, claime ...

Dolores Dolores, Spanish for "pain; grief", most commonly refers to: * Our Lady of Sorrows or La Virgen María de los Dolores * Dolores (given name) Dolores may also refer to: Film * ''Dolores'' (2017 film), an American documentary by Peter Bratt * ' ...

, and

Lilian Shelley Lilian Shelley (born Lilian Milsom 1892, died after 1933) was an artists' model, music hall entertainer, and cabaret singer in London in the 1910s and 1920s, known as "The Bug" or "The Pocket Edition". She posed for Jacob Epstein and Augustus ...

, along with many other young women. She was slim, pale, and fair-haired and apparently able to adopt any pose that might be asked of her. Her husky voice and slightly androgynous appearance meant that she could pass for a young man, which she sometimes did.

commented to Henry Lamb, "she makes an irresistible boy".

Augustus John

In March 1907, Euphemia and Henry Lamb went to Paris to stay with Augustus John and

Dorelia McNeill Dorothy (Dorelia) McNeill (19 December 1881 – 23 July 1969) was best known as a model for the Welsh artists Gwen John and Augustus John, was the common-law wife of the latter, and has been credited for inspiring "his first unequivocally perso ...

Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...

. Henry had been John's pupil in London, and Euphemia modelled for John. John was fascinated by Euphemia's appearance and her sexual behaviour, and he nicknamed her "

Lobelia ''Lobelia'' () is a genus of flowering plants comprising 415 species, with a subcosmopolitan distribution primarily in tropical to warm temperate regions of the world, a few species extending into cooler temperate regions.Huxley, A., ed. (1992 ...

", a name he used quite openly with her husband. Dorelia became romantically interested in Henry, which John encouraged so that he could spend more time with Euphemia,Cawthorne, Nigel. (2004) ''Sex Lives of the Great Artists''. London: Prion, p. 175. though he denied any personal romantic interest in her.Hoole, John & Margaret Simons (2013)
James Dickson Innes (1887-1914)
'. London:

Lund Humphries Ashgate Publishing was an academic book and journal publisher based in Farnham (Surrey, United Kingdom). It was established in 1967 and specialised in the social sciences, arts, humanities and professional practice. It had an American office in ...

, pp. 67–68. Although John prized Euphemia as a model, he did not take her seriously otherwise, regarding her behaviour as quite eccentric and her stories fanciful. On one occasion, according to Euphemia, her penchant for dressing like a man had unfortunate consequences, she and John were arrested as homosexuals and she was required to undress in custody in order to prove she was a woman. She also claimed that she had a revolver and was prepared to shoot herself and her husband, and that she had caused the death of John's first wife

Ida Ida or IDA may refer to: Astronomy * Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter *243 Ida, an asteroid *International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station Computing *Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...

who had died in childbirth. Battles with Henry forced Euphemia in the direction of

Duncan Grant Duncan James Corrowr Grant (21 January 1885 – 8 May 1978) was a British painter and designer of textiles, pottery, theatre sets and costumes. He was a member of the Bloomsbury Group. His father was Bartle Grant, a "poverty-stricken" major ...

, whose relationships were usually homosexual, but he was repulsed by the complicated love life of the group, particularly John's encouragement of Dorelia's relationship with Henry, writing to

Lytton Strachey Giles Lytton Strachey (; 1 March 1880 – 21 January 1932) was an English writer and critic. A founding member of the Bloomsbury Group and author of ''Eminent Victorians'', he established a new form of biography in which psychological insight ...

, "That Lamb family sickens me", and referring to Euphemia as "the white haired whore". By the summer of 1907, Euphemia had effectively left Henry, although they did not divorce until 1928 when Henry wished to marry

Pansy Pakenham Lady Margaret Pansy Felicia Lamb, known as Lady Pansy Lamb (18 May 1904 – 19 February 1999) was an English writer under her maiden name of Pansy Pakenham. A novelist, biographer, and translator of French poetry, she was the wife of the Austral ...

. John continued to follow Euphemia's liaisons with interest, reporting to Henry in August that Euphemia had "made the acquaintance of a number of nations" and the following year to Dorelia that "Lobelia had 6 men in her room last night, representing the six European powers".

Jacob Epstein

The sculptor Jacob Epstein created a number of busts of Euphemia in marble and bronze, the best known of which is the bronze bust in the Tate Gallery which the gallery dates to 1908, but which Epstein dated to 1911 in ''Let There Be Sculpture''. Three studies of Euphemia are in the

Leeds City Art Gallery Leeds Art Gallery in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is a gallery, part of the Leeds Museums & Galleries group, whose collection of 20th-century British Art was designated by the British government in 1997 as a collection "of national importance" ...

. Around 1910, Epstein completed for

Lady Ottoline Morrell Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell (16 June 1873 – 21 April 1938) was an English aristocrat and society hostess. Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befriended writers including Aldous Huxley, Sieg ...

a garden figure of for which Euphemia was the model. A plaster model of the work was exhibited in 1911 and a bronze of the torso completed in 1912.

Aleister Crowley

In Paris, Euphemia became the lover of the

Aleister Crowley; in 1908 they conspired to humiliate Crowley's male lover and acolyte Victor Neuburg by convincing him that Euphemia was in love with him while Crowley pressed him into visiting a brothel, thus making him unfaithful to her. Crowley gave Euphemia the name "Dorothy" in his ''Confessions'' and described her as "incomparably beautiful ... capable of stimulating the greatest extravagances of passion".

James Dickson Innes

In 1910, Euphemia met

James Dickson Innes James Dickson Innes (27 February 1887 – 22 August 1914) was a British painter, mainly of mountain landscapes but occasionally of figure subjects. He worked in both oils and watercolours. Style Of his style, art historian David Fraser Jenkins ...

(1887–1914) at a cafe on the

Boulevard du Montparnasse The Boulevard du Montparnasse is a two-way boulevard in Montparnasse, in the 6th, 14th and 15th arrondissements in Paris. Situation The boulevard joins the place Léon Paul Fargue and place Camille Jullian. The Tour Montparnasse and plac ...

, and the two began an affair which was more intense for Innes than for Euphemia who never restricted her relationships to just one man. According to Euphemia, they travelled through southern France together. Innes was already suffering from the

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

that eventually killed him. In 1910 or 1911, with Augustus John, he established a small artistic commune at ''Nant Ddu'' cottage in north Wales. Visitors included John and Dorelia,

Derwent Lees Derwent Lees (14 November 1884 – 24 March 1931) was an Australian landscape painter. Biography Derwent Lees was born Desmond Lees in Hobart, Australia, in 1884. His father was general manager of the Union Bank of Australia. He suffered a ...

, Ian Strang, and Euphemia, who Innes painted against the background of

Arenig Fawr Arenig Fawr ( en, Great High Ground) is a mountain in Snowdonia, North Wales, close to Llyn Celyn reservoir, alongside the A4212 between Trawsfynydd and Bala. Location Arenig Fawr is the highest member of the Arenig range, with Arenig Fach ( ...

. It was said that when the relationship was over, Innes buried a silver casket of love letters from Euphemia on the summit of Arenig, the mountain in some way representing the scale of Innes' unrequited love for her. File:Girl with a Guitar, c. 1910, James Dickson Innes.jpg, Euphemia as ''Girl with a Guitar'',

, oil on canvas, c. 1910. File:The Girl in the Cottage c, 1911 James Dickson Innes.jpg, ''The Girl in the Cottage'', James Dickson Innes, oil on panel, c. 1911. File:Girl Standing by a Lake James Dickson Innes.jpg, ''Girl Standing by a Lake'', James Dickson Innes, oil on panel, 1911/12. Ex Augustus John.

Affairs

Among Euphemia's other lovers were the poet Francis Macnamara and the author

Henri-Pierre Roché Henri-Pierre Roché (28 May 1879 – 9 April 1959) was a French author who was involved with the artistic avant-garde in Paris and the Dada movement. Late in life, Roché published two novels: his first was ''Jules et Jim'' (1953), a semi-autobiog ...

Later life

Little is recorded about Euphemia's later life. She was living at Stoke House in Stoke St Mary Bourne, Hampshire at least by 1939, and it was her address at the time of her death and recorded in the Probate Index, which shows her effects valued at nearly 37,000 pounds. In 1934,"England & Wales marriages 1837–2008 Transcription", ''findmypast''. Retrieved 31 October 2014. (subscription required) she married the painter Edward Grove, but they divorced in 1942 or 1943.N03187 EUPHEMIA LAMB 1908.
Tate. Retrieved 1 November 2014. Euphemia died on 26 January 1957 in hospital at Winchester.

Notes and references

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Euphemia 1957 deaths 1887 births Date of birth missing English artists' models People from Ormskirk