Gordon Anthony (23 December 1902 – 21 July 1989) was a British photographer, known particularly for his photographs of ballet and theatre in Britain.

Biography

He was born James Gordon Dawson Stannus in

Wicklow, Ireland Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has a ...

on 23 December 1902. Anthony started working in photography in 1926, making images of the students at his sister's ballet school in London.Finding Aid for the Gordon Anthony Ballet and Theatrical Photograph Albums, 1935-1946
Online Archive of California. UCLA Special Collections. 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2012. In 1933 he became the portrait photographer to the

Shakespeare Memorial Theatre The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) (originally called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) is a grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakespea ...

, Stratford. His photographs helped to make the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

known across the world in the 1930s. In 1948, he published the first ever book of colour photography in Great Britain, ''Studies of Dancers''. A retrospective exhibition of his work, ''Shadowlands'', was held at the National Portrait Gallery in 1988.

Family

His sister, Dame

Ninette de Valois Dame Ninette de Valois (born Edris Stannus; 6 June 1898 – 8 March 2001) was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, ...

, was a ballet dancer in

Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pat ...

's company. She later directed both the

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-sea ...

and the Royal Ballet.

Works

Anthony's photographs are held in major collection including the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

Victoria and Albert Museum: Gordon Anthony
Retrieved 17 November 2012. and the National Portrait Gallery.National Portrait Gallery: Gordon Anthony
Retrieved 17 November 2012. Among his portraits are the economist

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 ...

, the actors

Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (194 ...

Peggy Ashcroft Dame Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991), known professionally as Peggy Ashcroft, was an English actress whose career spanned more than 60 years. Born to a comfortable middle-class family, Ashcroft was deter ...

and

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...

, and critic

Sacheverell Sitwell Sir Sacheverell Reresby Sitwell, 6th Baronet, (; 15 November 1897 – 1 October 1988) was an English writer, best known as an art critic, music critic (his books on Mozart, Liszt, and Domenico Scarlatti are still consulted), and writer on a ...

, theatre director

Lilian Baylis Lilian Mary Baylis CH (9 May 187425 November 1937) was an English theatrical producer and manager. She managed the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells theatres in London and ran an opera company, which became the English National Opera (ENO); a theatre ...

, sculptor

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 ...

's wife

Kathleen Garman Kathleen Esther Garman, Lady Epstein (15 May 1901 – August 1979) was the third of the seven Garman sisters, who were high-profile members of artistic circles in mid-20th century London, renowned for their beauty and scandalous behaviour. She ...

and dancers

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells T ...

and

Alicia Markova Dame Alicia Markova DBE (1 December 1910 – 2 December 2004) was a British ballerina and a choreographer, director and teacher of classical ballet. Most noted for her career with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and touring international ...

. ; Books * Ballet: Camera Studies (Geoffrey Bles, 1939) * Studies of Dancers (1948) * Margot Fonteyn (1950) * Alicia Markova (1951) * A Camera at the Ballet: Pioneer Dancers of the Royal Ballet (1975)

References

External links

Victoria and Albert Museum: Gordon Anthony
(17 of his photographs)
National Portrait Gallery: Gordon Anthony
(69 of his photographs)
Corbis Images: Gordon Anthony
(29 of his photographs) {{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, Gordon 1902 births 1989 deaths British portrait photographers Theatrical photographers People from County Wicklow