Gwen Le Gallienne (born Gwendolyn Hinton Perry; c. 1898–1966) was a French-born, American-raised, England-based painter and sculptor. She was the first woman allowed to sketch battlefield scenes by the British

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

Life

Gwendolyn was born to Irma Perry (née Hinton) and

Roland Hinton Perry Roland Hinton Perry (January 25, 1870 – October 27, 1941)"New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2WRL-TLD : 20 March 2015), Roland Perry, 27 Oct 1941; citing Death, ...

around 1898. Her parents were first cousins. She was

Richard Le Gallienne Richard Le Gallienne (20 January 1866 – 15 September 1947) was an English author and poet. The British-American actress Eva Le Gallienne (1899–1991) was his daughter by his second marriage to Danish journalist Julie Nørregaard (1863–1942) ...

's step-daughter, and took the name Gwen Le Gallienne. Her mother Irma was Richard Le Gallienne's third wife, and Irma and Richard married in 1911. Gwen was considered somewhat of a celebrity, starting in the 1920s, due to her nonconformity to sexual and social norms which led her to stand out. Her personality was even notable among the Montparnasse bohemian circle. Gwen was noted for having an affair with

Louise Bryant Louise Bryant (December 5, 1885 – January 6, 1936) was an American feminist, political activist, and journalist best known for her sympathetic coverage of Russia and the Bolsheviks during the October Revolution, Russian Revolution of Novembe ...

. Gwen was friends with

Stephen Ward Stephen Thomas Ward (19 October 1912 – 3 August 1963) was an English osteopath and artist who was one of the central figures in the 1963 Profumo affair, a British political scandal which brought about the resignation of John Profumo, the Sec ...

during this time. Gwen and Bryant started their affair early in 1928, which caused much strain in Bryant's marriage. Allegedly, Bryant's husband (former U.S. diplomatic envoy to Soviet Russia,

William C. Bullitt William Christian Bullitt Jr. (January 25, 1891 – February 15, 1967) was an American diplomat, journalist, and novelist. He is known for his special mission to negotiate with Lenin on behalf of the Paris Peace Conference, often recalled as a mi ...

) found Louise's personal notes about her affair with Gwen and this caused their divorce. Gwen was also involved with artist Yvette Ledoux, daughter of Urbain Ledoux ("Mr. Zero"), but Ledoux became involved with (and later married) the Surrealist painter

Georges Malkine Georges Alexandre Malkine (10 October 1898 – 22 March 1970) was the only visual artist named in André Breton’s 1924 Surrealist Manifesto among those who, at the time of its publication, had “performed acts of absolute surrealism." The ...

on a trip they all took in January 1929. Her closing years were spent in the Distressed Gentlefolks Association's nursing home in Vicarage Gate, Kensington, London.

Career

Gwen was exhibiting her art by her twenties. She had multiple solo shows of her work. In 1940, Le Gallienne was the first female painter who was allowed by the United Kingdom's

to go to war sites and paint scenes of battles. Gwen also served in British intelligence during the war.

Links

A photograph of Gwen Le Gallienne by Berenice Abbott

Another photograph of Gwen Le Gallienne by Berenice Abbott

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Gallienne, Gwen 1874 births 1966 deaths 20th-century English painters