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Dorothy Shakespear
Dorothy Shakespear (14 September 1886 – 8 December 1973) was an English artist. She was the daughter of novelist Olivia Shakespear and the wife of American poet Ezra Pound. One of a small number of women vorticist painters, her art work was published in BLAST, the short-lived but influential literary magazine.
Dorothy and Pound first met in 1909 in London, and after a long courtship the two married in 1914. They lived in Paris from 1920 until 1924, and in 1925 settled in Rapallo, Italy. In spite of her husband's 50-year affair with Olga Rudge, whom he met in Paris in the early 1920s, Dorothy stayed married to Pound. In 1926 she gave birth to a son Omar Pound, who was raised in England by her mother. By the 1930s she received a number of family bequests, making her financially independent, but lost much of her money by following Pound's advice to invest in Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime.
Toward the end of World War II, Dorothy and Pound were evacuated from their home in Rapallo, and for a period she lived with Pound in Rudge's home. After the war, when Pound had been arrested for treason and incarcerated on grounds of insanity in Washington, D.C., she moved there, visiting daily, taking control of his estate, and staying with him until his release. They returned to Italy in 1958; in 1961 she moved to London, leaving her husband to live out the last decade of his life with Olga Rudge.
Dorothy's parents both came from British Indian Army families. Her mother Olivia Shakespear, born on the Isle of Wight, lived her early years in Sussex and later in London where she and her sister Florence were raised to live a life of leisure. In 1885 she married Henry Hope Shakespear (1849–1923), who traced his family line to 17th-century East London rope makers and, like his wife, came from a military family. Educated at Harrow, he went on to study law, became a barrister, and in 1875 joined a law practice. The couple's only child Dorothy was born nine months after the two were married. Dorothy's mother, a minor novelist, was active in London literary circles for much of her life.
From her father Dorothy learned to paint, with the two going to the countryside for regularly scheduled painting excursions. She attended Hampshire Boarding School and for a short period a Geneva finishing school, after which she lived in her parents' home, keeping herself occupied with water-colour painting, reading, letter writing, and accompanying her mother on social visits. Ezra Pound biographer Wilhelm describes her as a "bright, pert, pretty English girl with a winning smile although some people found her cold", and Humphrey Carpenter says that she lived a sheltered life before meeting Pound.
Dorothy met Pound at her own home on 16 February 1909 when her mother, who had recently met the young American poet at a friend's salon in Kensington, invited him to tea. Although Olivia was more than 20 years older than Pound, she was a beautiful woman, and influential in London literary society, to whom Pound may have been attracted. But it was Dorothy, a year younger than Pound, who was struck by his presence, writing in her diary on the very day she met him:
Listen to it—Ezra! Ezra! And a third time—Ezra! He has a wonderful, beautiful face, a high forehead, prominent over the eyes; a long delicate nose, with little, red, nostrils; a strange mouth, never still & quite elusive; a square chin, slightly cleft in the middle—the whole face pale; the eyes grey-blue; the hair golden-brown, and curling in soft wavy crinkles. Large grotesque eyes, with long, well-shaped fingers and beautiful nails.
Many years later she would tell Ezra Pound biographer Noel Stock that her memory of the visit "was very hazy, all she could remember was that it was winter and she sat on a low stool near the fire and listened".
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Dorothy Shakespear
Dorothy Shakespear (14 September 1886 – 8 December 1973) was an English artist. She was the daughter of novelist Olivia Shakespear and the wife of American poet Ezra Pound. One of a small number of women vorticist painters, her art work was published in BLAST, the short-lived but influential literary magazine.
Dorothy and Pound first met in 1909 in London, and after a long courtship the two married in 1914. They lived in Paris from 1920 until 1924, and in 1925 settled in Rapallo, Italy. In spite of her husband's 50-year affair with Olga Rudge, whom he met in Paris in the early 1920s, Dorothy stayed married to Pound. In 1926 she gave birth to a son Omar Pound, who was raised in England by her mother. By the 1930s she received a number of family bequests, making her financially independent, but lost much of her money by following Pound's advice to invest in Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime.
Toward the end of World War II, Dorothy and Pound were evacuated from their home in Rapallo, and for a period she lived with Pound in Rudge's home. After the war, when Pound had been arrested for treason and incarcerated on grounds of insanity in Washington, D.C., she moved there, visiting daily, taking control of his estate, and staying with him until his release. They returned to Italy in 1958; in 1961 she moved to London, leaving her husband to live out the last decade of his life with Olga Rudge.
Dorothy's parents both came from British Indian Army families. Her mother Olivia Shakespear, born on the Isle of Wight, lived her early years in Sussex and later in London where she and her sister Florence were raised to live a life of leisure. In 1885 she married Henry Hope Shakespear (1849–1923), who traced his family line to 17th-century East London rope makers and, like his wife, came from a military family. Educated at Harrow, he went on to study law, became a barrister, and in 1875 joined a law practice. The couple's only child Dorothy was born nine months after the two were married. Dorothy's mother, a minor novelist, was active in London literary circles for much of her life.
From her father Dorothy learned to paint, with the two going to the countryside for regularly scheduled painting excursions. She attended Hampshire Boarding School and for a short period a Geneva finishing school, after which she lived in her parents' home, keeping herself occupied with water-colour painting, reading, letter writing, and accompanying her mother on social visits. Ezra Pound biographer Wilhelm describes her as a "bright, pert, pretty English girl with a winning smile although some people found her cold", and Humphrey Carpenter says that she lived a sheltered life before meeting Pound.
Dorothy met Pound at her own home on 16 February 1909 when her mother, who had recently met the young American poet at a friend's salon in Kensington, invited him to tea. Although Olivia was more than 20 years older than Pound, she was a beautiful woman, and influential in London literary society, to whom Pound may have been attracted. But it was Dorothy, a year younger than Pound, who was struck by his presence, writing in her diary on the very day she met him:
Listen to it—Ezra! Ezra! And a third time—Ezra! He has a wonderful, beautiful face, a high forehead, prominent over the eyes; a long delicate nose, with little, red, nostrils; a strange mouth, never still & quite elusive; a square chin, slightly cleft in the middle—the whole face pale; the eyes grey-blue; the hair golden-brown, and curling in soft wavy crinkles. Large grotesque eyes, with long, well-shaped fingers and beautiful nails.
Many years later she would tell Ezra Pound biographer Noel Stock that her memory of the visit "was very hazy, all she could remember was that it was winter and she sat on a low stool near the fire and listened".