Seventy years ago Lydia Corbett posed for Picasso, and became the artist’s ‘girl with the ponytail’. Now at home in South Brent and an artist in her own right, she invited Emma Bovill to her studio where they shared strong black coffee and views on life.
‘It’s narrow and it’s full,’ says Lydia Corbett, gesturing around her home studio in South Brent. It’s a statement of fact laced with both apology and delight. At nearly 90 years old, Lydia (born Sylvia ‘Sylvette’ David) is still a prolific artist. There are framed artworks and canvases covering the walls, propped against the floor and lined up on racks like slices of toast. Unframed pieces are layered in neat piles resembling millefeuille.
On an easel is Lydia’s latest work, a bold uninhibited interpretation in black charcoal of a photograph taken during the press interest that followed after she sat for Pablo Picasso in 1954 aged just 19. She credits the experience, which saw Picasso produce over 75 portraits of her including sculptures, with bringing her out of herself and as a catalyst for her creativity, although it would be over two decades until her art saw its expression on moving to Devon.
Seven decades on there is, if not shyness, then a stillness about her manner that gives a window into the emotional landscape of the young woman who took Picasso’s eye. Lydia’s gentle energy sets the tone of our meeting, and it feels right to let the conversation flow naturally, with the studio environment as the initial prompt, rather than peppering her with questions, especially ones she has answered so many times before.
Several books have explored Lydia’s fascinating life and extraordinary art, not least the beautifully sensitive biography I Was Sylvette: The Story of Lydia Corbett by her daughter, artist Isabel Coulton, which spans her unique childhood in France, freeform secondary schooling in Suffolk, the Picasso encounter, time in London and nearly five decades in Devon. During my visit Lydia reaches for Sylvette David / Lydia Corbett Ceramics: Painter and Sculptor in Clay by art historian Lucien Berman who co-curated a retrospective at the Penwith Gallery, St Ives, in March.
The subject of scores of portraits by Picasso, Lydia has made her own indelible mark on the artworld with her body of work. Even her failing eyesight isn’t a hindrance. She deftly uses her iPad, on which she made art during a spell in hospital with a broken ankle five years ago, to zoom in on visuals that inspire her, including photos of Etruscan sculptures. She agrees when I tentatively suggest there may be a freedom in being released from details.
Modestly describing her latest output as ‘vague’ in comparison to the finer lines and intricate subject matter of her earlier pieces, she does, thankfully, give herself credit for ‘the spirit of a feeling’ and ‘light touch’ she brings to her current art, which is predominantly in acrylic and charcoal. As she generously shows me around every room of her home, creativity can be found in every corner, each artwork and object exuding its own sentiment.
We eventually settle at her dining table for strong black coffee, chinking cups and wishing one another good health with a heartfelt ‘À votre santé!’, before she shows me some of her more incidental drawings. ‘Have a look at my funny little sketches,’ she invites, ‘I never stop scribbling.’ It’s true, some are deliberately done with her left hand or in child’s colouring pens, but there is a rawness and authenticity to them nonetheless. When I point to one of a woman embracing a young boy which reminds me of my son, she gifts it to me on the spot.
Lydia has been courted by the media and film makers after serendipity introduced her to Picasso in Vallauris near Cannes in the south of France. In fact it was a chair, made by her then boyfriend Toby and bought by Picasso, which would put her in the artist’s path for a brief but intense interlude of sittings which would make her face and trademark high ponytail so recognisable, enough for Brigitte Bardot to copy the look.
As she looks towards her 90th birthday, Lydia is reflective on the events of 1954 and the impact they had on her, but her own unique spirituality, and the influence of the Subud movement (through which she changed her name), mean she adopts the attitude of being present in the moment. On my arrival we spent several minutes admiring the evening primrose flowers in her front garden and eulogising about the cool Dartmoor air before we go inside.
She explains it was her then husband Rawdon Corbett’s love of country walking that pulled them from life on the Dartington Estate, where they landed in 1977 when Rawdon was offered the role of vice-principal at Dartington Hall, to South Brent. Isabel’s biography, which puts Lydia’s life to the page at age 82, explores how much Devon has inspired her, although she still feels, and sounds, quite French. Her words are often interspersed with continental colloquialisms.
Two hours fly quickly by and I find myself grateful for Isabel’s detailed recording of events and stories to be able to focus on Lydia as she is now; full of warmth, kindness and elegantly delivered wisdom. Thanks go too to gallerist David Simon, who has known Lydia for 20 years and hosted exhibitions of her work since 2016, having been introduced to her work by her long-term supporter, gallerist Francis Kyle. David is presenting Lydia’s new paintings, including artworks referencing her life in the 1950s, at his Somerset gallery this month.
From the shy girl with the ponytail to celebrated artist, a peripatetic youth to decades putting down roots in Devon, Lydia has developed her own personal lexicon too. We discuss the lack of space held for the older generation in society in the face of the fast pace of modern living and her underlying counsel seems to be to slow down and simply be. I for one count it as a huge privilege to spend time with someone so in touch with both her past and the now. ‘I don’t miss anything,’ she affirms.
Lydia Corbett At 90: A Life in Painting runs from November 1 to 30 at David Simon Contemporary, Castle Cary, Somerset. The exhibition will also feature original works on paper by Picasso from the 1950s and 1960s.
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