Picture Archive & Historical Portraits
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Artists
  • Artworks
  • Image Licensing
  • Philip Mould Gallery
  • Contact
Menu
Portrait of Loelia, Duchess of Westminster

Browse artworks

William Acton, Portrait of Loelia, Duchess of Westminster

William Acton

Portrait of Loelia, Duchess of Westminster
Oil on canvas
61 1/4 x 50 in (153 x 127 cm)
Philip Mould & Co.
License Image
%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3EWilliam%20Acton%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title_and_year%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22title_and_year_title%22%3EPortrait%20of%20Loelia%2C%20Duchess%20of%20Westminster%3C/span%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EOil%20on%20canvas%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E61%201/4%20x%2050%20in%20%28153%20x%20127%20cm%29%3C/div%3E
For all available works visit philipmould.com This highly original portrait of Loelia, Duchess of Westminster was painted by William Acton, a talented yet little known artist best remembered for his...
Read more
For all available works visit philipmould.com

This highly original portrait of Loelia, Duchess of Westminster was painted by William Acton, a talented yet little known artist best remembered for his striking surrealist portraits of prominent society women.

William Acton was the son of art dealer and collector Arthur Acton (1873-1953) and his wife Hortense Lenore Mitchell (1871-1962). The latter’s father was the American financier John J. Mitchell. He also had a brother, Harold, who would later gain recognition as a scholar and writer. The Actons were raised by their parents at La Pietra, a villa outside Florence, where their neighbours included the Sitwell family, and Gerald Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners who was a friend of Salvador Dali. It was perhaps through Lord Berners that Acton was first introduced to Surrealism, which had a profound influence on his life and work.

Acton studied at Eton and was one of the founders of the Eton Society of Arts, alongside Anthony Powell who later found fame as a novelist. He then moved to Christ Church, Oxford and after college was part of circle of friends including Diana Mitford, John Betjeman, Evelyn Waugh and Randolph Churchill. Around this time, Acton sketched a series of portraits depicting the Mitford sisters, which were later turned into prints.

Although Acton’s life was tragically cut short in 1945, he nevertheless gained considerable exposure during his lifetime as a portrait painter. An article published in Life magazine in 1938 highlighted the recent fashion for surrealist portraiture and focussed specifically on Acton’s work and how it had, in turn, influenced the photography work of Angus McBean. The present portrait is illustrated on the first page of this article alongside similarly dreamlike portrait of the novelist Lady Eleanor Smith.

Loelia was the daughter of Sir Frederick Ponsonby, later 1st Baron Sysonby and Victoria Lily, Lady Sysonby, a celebrated author of cook books. Loelia was a starlet of her day and one of the so-called ‘Bright Young People’. In 1930 Loelia married Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster (already twice divorced) although the marriage was later dissolved in 1947. Loelia later married Sir Martin Lindsay, 1st Baronet in 1969.
Close full details

Provenance

Christie’s, London, 31 January 2018, lot 283 (‘Property of a Lady’);
Philip Mould & Co., London.

Literature

Anon. 1938. ‘Speaking of Pictures…These Surrealist Portraits are a Vogue in London’. Life. 16 May, pp.4-7.
Share
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Email
Previous
|
Next
4 
of  2010
PHILIP MOULD & COMPANY
CONTACT

+44 (0)20 7499 6818
art@philipmould.com

18-19 Pall Mall
London SW1Y 5LU

philipmould.com

FOLLOW US

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

YouTube

Artsy

 

Join the mailing list
Manage cookies
Copyright © 2025 Picture Archive & Historical Portraits
Site by Artlogic

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences
Close

Be the first to hear about our available artworks

Interests *

Sign Up

* denotes required fields

We will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy (available on request). You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.