Philip McEvansoneya reflects on John Lavery’s portrayal of his constant model, his wife, Hazel Martyn, ahead of Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane’s exhibition ‘Lavery: Passion and Politics’.
The activities of Hazel Martyn, later Lady Lavery, have given rise to much speculation. The conduct of her marriage to the painter, Sir John Lavery, and her connections with the assassinated nationalist politicians, Michael Collins and Kevin O’Higgins, have inspired much debate of the ‘did they, didn’t they’ type. What is undeniable is that as a result of Lavery’s artistic status, and her own social abilities, Hazel Lavery occupied a position as an important figure in London society that brought her into various elevated circles in which she exercised some influence, operating with great success as a social lubricant, oiling the grinding cogs of Anglo-Irish politics.
