Hilda in a black hat

Hilda Gardiner was the artist's wife. (Another portrait of her by her husband has recently been acquired by Tate Britain). A remarkable woman, she established a reputation as a dancer in the manner of Isadora Duncan and was a friend of Carl Jung. She developed a form of mime - in which the Greek myths were relayed - and established a theatre in the barn at her house, Dunshay Manor, on the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset.