Perhaps one of the greatest muses of 20th century art, Isabel Rawsthorne’s place in art history crystallised with a number of well known Francis Bacon paintings, which followed significant earlier portraits by Jacob Epstein, Alberto Giacometti, André Derain and Pablo Picasso.

Rawsthorne was herself a talented and hugely original artist. She exhibited regularly in her lifetime, including solo shows at the Hanover Gallery and Marlborough Fine Art. She featured prominently in the National Portrait Gallery’s 'Francis Bacon: Human Presence' show in 2024, though her profile might still be higher given the quality of her work and the scale of her ambition.

Perhaps her greatest artistic achievement was her portrayal of dancers: Rawsthorne spent nearly the entire 1950s and 60s preoccupied with ballet, driven by the desire to make ‘portraits in motion’, and through this obsession pioneering a completely original form of ballet art. An excellent example of that achievement can be seen in the portrait of Antoinette Sibley, also available through the gallery.

Rawsthorne was closely connected to the ballet, marrying first Constant Lambert, founding music director of the Royal Ballet, and then, after Lambert’s death, composer Alan Rawsthorne. Prior to her intense focus on individual dancers as a subject, she worked on set and costume designs for ballet and opera through the early and mid 1950s.

Both the Rawsthornes worked on the 1955 production of Madame Chrysanthème, with Isabel designing the set and costumes. The production, choreographed by Frederick Ashton, adapted Pierre Loti’s 1887 novel of the same name.

This picture was owned by John Sullivan, lighting designer for the production and many others at the Royal Opera House.

Other examples of Rawsthorne set designs are held by the V&A and the Royal Ballet and Opera.

There is another similar picture from Madame Chrysanthème available through the gallery. Both beautifully framed in simple wood frames that echo the architectural structure of the depicted stage and that draw the eye in due to their depth, they make a great pair hung together.