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Hazel Lavery
Hazel Lavery

Hazel Lavery

Artist (1856 - 1941)
Date1906
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsFramed: 91 x 77 x 7.5 cm
77.2 x 64.5 cm
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineCollection & image © Hugh Lane Gallery. Lady Lavery Memorial Bequest through Sir John Lavery, 1935.
Object number756
DescriptionHazel, Lady Lavery (1886–1935, née Hazel Martyn) was a painter and the second wife of the celebrated portrait artist Sir John Lavery. Born in Chicago, she married her first husband, Edward Trudeau, a physician, in 1903. He died the following year. She first met John Lavery in 1904 and they married in 1909. The Laverys’ marriage was tempestuous, and Lady Lavery is reputed to have had affairs with Kevin O’Higgins and Michael Collins, the Irish revolutionary leader.
Hazel Lavery features in over 400 portraits by Lavery. She is remembered for having her likeness appearing on Banknotes of the Republic of Ireland for much of the 20th century. This painting was carried out while Hazel Lavery was still Mrs Trudeau, travelling in Europe with her family. Hazel was ill with nephritis at this time, which may account for her ghostly appearance. Lavery possessed an innate skill for portraying the texture and lustre of fur and the way in which it so flattered the ivory complexion of the sitter.
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