Cathleen Sabine Mann RP ROI (31 December 1896 – 9 September 1959), styled the Marchioness of Queensberry from 1926 to 1946, was a British

portrait painter Portrait painting is a Hierarchy of genres, genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commissio ...

and

costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costum ...

for film. She was a member of the

Royal Institute of Oil Painters The Royal Institute of Oil Painters, also known as ROI, is an association of painters in London, England, and is the only major art society which features work done only in oil. It is a member society of the Federation of British Artists. Histor ...

and the

Royal Society of Portrait Painters The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is a charity based at Carlton House Terrace, SW1, London that promotes the practice and appreciation of portraiture art. Its Annual Exhibition of portraiture is held at Mall Galleries, and it runs a commi ...

Family and career

Cathleen Mann was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

on 31 December 1896 to the Scottish portrait painter

Harrington Mann Harrington Mann (7 October 1864 – 28 February 1937) was a Scotland, Scottish portrait artist and decorative painter. He was a member of the Glasgow Boys movement in the 1880s. Art career Mann was born in Glasgow and began his studies at the ...

, the second of his three daughters. Her mother was the portraitist and interior director Florence Sabine Pasley. Harrington Mann gave Cathleen painting lessons in his London studio, as did the portrait painter

Ethel Walker Dame Ethel Walker (9 June 1861 – 2 March 1951) was a Scottish painter of portraits, flower-pieces, sea-pieces and decorative compositions. From 1936, Walker was a member of The London Group. Her work displays the influence of Impressionism, Pu ...

. Walker continued to tutor Mann even while Cathleen was studying at

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in London. Walker remained an influence on Mann and the two often exhibited in the same group exhibitions. Mann's art career was put on hold owing to the First World War, when she worked with an ambulance unit. By 1924 Mann had two portraits in the Royal Academy, and exhibited there regularly from 1930. Her work was displayed at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, the

Musée du Luxembourg The () is a museum at 19 in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Established in 1750, it was initially an art museum located in the east wing of the Luxembourg Palace (the matching west wing housed the Marie de' Medici cycle by Peter Paul Rubens) an ...

, and the

Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts (RGI) is an independent organisation in Glasgow, founded in 1861, which promotes contemporary art and artists in Scotland. The institute organizes the largest and most prestigious annual art exhibiti ...

. Two of her portraits hang in the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

: Sir Matthew Smith and Sir Eduardo Paolozzi (both oil on canvas, 1952). Mann eventually became a member of the

and the

. During the 1930s Mann also engaged in costume design for British films. Her work included ''The Iron Duke'' (1935) starring

George Arliss George Arliss (born Augustus George Andrews; 10 April 1868 – 5 February 1946) was an English actor, author, playwright, and filmmaker who found success in the United States. He was the first British actor to win an Academy Award – which he ...

and ''

Things to Come ''Things to Come'' is a 1936 British science fiction film produced by Alexander Korda, directed by William Cameron Menzies, and written by H. G. Wells. It is a loose adaptation of Wells' book '' The Shape of Things to Come''. The film stars Ra ...

'' (1937) starring

Raymond Massey Raymond Hart Massey (August 30, 1896 – July 29, 1983) was a Canadian actor known for his commanding stage-trained voice. For his lead role in '' Abe Lincoln in Illinois'' (1940), Massey was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He r ...

. Mann donated some of her costume design drawings to the Victoria & Albert Museum, where they are on display.

Later life

Mann married

Francis Douglas, 11th Marquess of Queensberry Francis Archibald Kelhead Douglas, 11th Marquess of Queensberry (17 January 1896 – 27 April 1954), styled The Honourable Francis Douglas until 1900 and Viscount Drumlanrig between 1900 and 1920 was a Scottish soldier, stockbroker and author. ...

on 18 March 1926, becoming his second wife. The marriage led some to refer to Mann as a "painting peeress", a term she disliked. She was known as the Marchioness of Queensberry until their divorce in 1946. They had two children,

David Douglas, 12th Marquess of Queensberry David Harrington Angus Douglas, 12th Marquess of Queensberry (born 19 December 1929) is an Anglo-Scottish aristocrat and pottery designer. He is the elder son of Francis Douglas, 11th Marquess of Queensberry, and his only son by his second wife ...

and a daughter. During the Second World War, Mann was an official war artist, painting portraits of officers such as Adrian Carton de Wiart and the Allied commanders. As well as being reproduced in magazines such as ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', these paintings were exhibited in London and then toured America. In 1946, she married John Robert Follett, the son of Brigadier-General Gilbert Burrell Spencer Follett, who had been killed in action during the First World War, and Lady Mildred Follet, daughter of

Charles Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore Charles Adolphus Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore VD DL (24 March 1841 – 27 August 1907), styled Viscount Fincastle from birth until 1845, was a Scottish peer, Conservative politician, explorer, author, and artist. Early life He was born in Lond ...

. Follett was a racehorse owner, but died in 1953, aged 46, shortly before Francis Douglas also died. The two deaths seemed to have caused Mann to have a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

, but it has been said that during this period she produced some of her best work, from landscapes and child portraits to sculpture and abstract paintings. She befriended the artist Matthew Smith and was influenced by his work. As a result, the ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'' opines that her best work occurred during the last ten years of her life. During this period she experimented with abstract art, drawings of nude models and sculpture. Mann committed suicide in 1959 by taking an overdose of sleeping pills in her studio on Montpelier Walk, Brompton. Her son said she had recently been diagnosed with another attack of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, although the doctor did not think it would be serious. She left a note stating that she was very worried about the illness. Following her death, this epitaph appeared in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'':

Filmography in costume design

* 1937: ''Backstage'' * 1936: ''Forbidden Music'' * 1936: ''

'' (credited as The Marchioness of Queensberry) * 1936: ''The Show Goes On'' * 1934: ''The Iron Duke'' * 1934: ''Evensong'' * 1934: ''Chu Chin Chow'' * 1933: ''The Wandering Jew''

References

Works cited * * * * *

External links

* *
Cathleen S. Mann profile
artnet.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Cathleen Sabine 1896 births 1959 deaths 1959 suicides 20th-century English painters Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Artists from Newcastle upon Tyne Artists who died by suicide British costume designers English war artists Drug-related suicides in England Queensberry Suicides in Kensington World War II artists 20th-century British war artists 20th-century English women painters British women costume designers