It's official! Former artist and ballet dance Pamela Synge is the first of the famous 'Aero Girls' to be found, and she still has the earrings to prove it..
Pictured in The Times today, 93-year-old Mrs Synge looked just a glamorous as she did more than fifty years ago, wearing the same hooped earrings as she did in the original sitting. Hers was one of a series of portraits commissioned by Rowntrees, now Nestle, as part of a post-war advertising campaign to encourage more women to eat chocolate. Back then she was a 'young artist, fresh from a painting trip to Venice,' completely unphased by her fame. And, it seems, nothing has changed.
In the living room of her home in Belgravia, London, where the sister painting to the original still hangs, Mrs Synge appears immune to all the fuss.
Not so Kerstin Doble who, along with Francesca Taylor is leading the research project into the portraits at the Borthwick Institute for archives in York. 'The fact that she is also an artist and owns the sister painting ..is a great twist in our quest to unravel the Aero Girls' mystery,' says Kerstin.
Though these wonderful portraits lined the walls of the company's offices for many years, no records were kept of the women. I wonder who will be next to come forward?
Meanwhile, ageless octogenarian Yoko Ono was also featured in times2 yesterday, admitting to being a 'control freak.' This didn't capture my attention so much as the heartache John Lennon's widow suffered before she married one of the most famous singer/songwriters in the world. Yoko has a daughter, Kyoko, from her marriage in the early sixties to American art promoter Tony Cox. The couple split when Yoko met John and so Tony vanished, taking the eight-year-old Kyoko with him. It was twenty years before they would see each other again.
Mother and Daughterwere finally reunited in 1994 when Kyoko, who is now 31 and has two children of her own, finally got in touch. That, surely, is the real story?
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| Pamela Synge featured in The Times |
Pictured in The Times today, 93-year-old Mrs Synge looked just a glamorous as she did more than fifty years ago, wearing the same hooped earrings as she did in the original sitting. Hers was one of a series of portraits commissioned by Rowntrees, now Nestle, as part of a post-war advertising campaign to encourage more women to eat chocolate. Back then she was a 'young artist, fresh from a painting trip to Venice,' completely unphased by her fame. And, it seems, nothing has changed.
In the living room of her home in Belgravia, London, where the sister painting to the original still hangs, Mrs Synge appears immune to all the fuss.
Not so Kerstin Doble who, along with Francesca Taylor is leading the research project into the portraits at the Borthwick Institute for archives in York. 'The fact that she is also an artist and owns the sister painting ..is a great twist in our quest to unravel the Aero Girls' mystery,' says Kerstin.
Though these wonderful portraits lined the walls of the company's offices for many years, no records were kept of the women. I wonder who will be next to come forward?
Meanwhile, ageless octogenarian Yoko Ono was also featured in times2 yesterday, admitting to being a 'control freak.' This didn't capture my attention so much as the heartache John Lennon's widow suffered before she married one of the most famous singer/songwriters in the world. Yoko has a daughter, Kyoko, from her marriage in the early sixties to American art promoter Tony Cox. The couple split when Yoko met John and so Tony vanished, taking the eight-year-old Kyoko with him. It was twenty years before they would see each other again.
Mother and Daughterwere finally reunited in 1994 when Kyoko, who is now 31 and has two children of her own, finally got in touch. That, surely, is the real story?
2 comments:
the story of the Aero girls is very interesting...always learn something from you!
Never been a Yoko fan but did like learning about her daughter. How difficult that must have been.
Ah - thanks Francie. I've always liked stories about brave women.
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