Jeunesse Dorée

'Jeunesse Dorée' means 'gilded youth' in French and was a term applied to wealthy and fashionable young society people. For this painting, Brockhurst used the model Kathleen Woodward who he had worked with previously. He went on to marry her in 1947. He painted Woodward, who he called Dorette, many times in the 1930s, often combining a Rennaisance format with Symbolist colours and intensity, as he has done here. This picture was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1934 and the 2nd Lord Leverhulme bought it on the first day of the show. © Richard Woodward