AT first glance, there seems little to connect the Hon Christian Methuen and Miss Rachel Johns, who respectively appeared on the Frontispiece of this magazine on May 1, 1915, and August 29, 1974. The common denominator, despite nearly 60 years’ difference, is that they each had their picture taken by the same photographer. Her name was Madame Yevonde. Theirs were the first and the last Yevonde portraits to be published in COUNTRY LIFE, bookending the extraordinary career of a pioneering photographer.
When the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) reopens this month after a three-year, £41 million refurbishment ( ), it will position Yevonde firmly centre stage with a major exhibition celebrating her life and work. Integral to this story is Yevonde’s long association with magazines such as COUNTRY