Lady Constance Steward Richardson, after the model by Paul Troubetzkoy

“I try to portray the spiritual, the abstract – the body animated by the spirit within, not the external features alone,” said Paolo Troubetzkoy (1866–1938) about his sculptural portrait of a rebellious British aristocrat turned dancer, Lady Constance Stewart Richardson. Coming from a noble Scottish family, in her early years, Lady Constance was celebrated in high society as an excellent swimmer and gymnast. However, after reinventing herself as a dancer and performing barefoot, and even bare-legged, in front of laymen at popular London music halls, she angered Edward VII to the point where he ordered to strike her name from the royal records. However, it did not stop her from pursuing her passion, on the contrary, it contributed to her international success. In this remarkable figurine, the sculptor beautifully captured the grace and tenacity of Lady Constance. Troubetzkoy’s society portraits gained him world-wide recognition and were perhaps his favourite genre. The form of portrait-statuette allowed the artist to depict his models dynamically and fill the space with their charismatic presence, as well as to illustrate his unique capacity for capturing the grace of the living form.