Stained Beech Bent and solid wood
frame. Turned legs.
This is a chair with balls.
Designed 1905-08 by Joseph Hoffman for the cafe at the Caberet Fledermaus which opened in October 1907 in Vienna .
Fledermaus translated simply means flying
mouse, or Bat.
Its wickedly simple construction makes this chair, one of the most
influential designs of the early 20th century.
Noted as model no 728 in J & J Kohns furniture catalogue.
It is hard to now
believe that this piece of early modernism was made during the Art Nouveau
and Arts and Crafts period. One Hundred years ago.
Its simple construction lends it to mass
production, something that both Thonet and Jacob and Joseph Kohn were the
predominant manufacturers of.
They were always on the look out for
interesting shapes and at the time of putting this chair into
production and were largely responsible for making
affordable furniture for the masses.
Gerbruder Thonet had put into
production Model no14 in 1859. This chair is still in production
today.
I have sold several Model no 1 which was manufactured in 1866
and this rocking chair still seems worthy of a trendy loft apartment
today originally manufactured with its woven cane seat and back into its solid and bentwood
frame.
Chair design also owes a debt of
gratitude to the wrought iron semi cantilevered chair that was shown
at the great exhibition of 1851. Thought to have been designed by
R.W. Winfield & Co it still has a deep buttoned upholstery seat
and arm pads that sat on a slatted frame.
This was being produced, in
a slightly altered guise in Germany by L & C Arnold and it must have influenced many.
The construction of chairs was altered
by fashion and at the turn of the 20th century simplicity
was required in certain circles and this was a democratisation of
furniture bringing simple style into the homes of many.
While Louis Majorelle and Galle were
making works of art in solid mahogany with gilt mounts and exhibiting
them to an international audience. The quiet revolution was taking
place.
When Marcel Beuer designed B33 in 1927
made from tubular steel with a simple leather seat it was manufactured
by the progressive company Gebruder Thonet in Frankenberg from 1929.
It is still being manufactured today.
Would there have been a Bauhaus without
Joseph Hoffman? Probably not.
Palais Stoclet designed by Hoffman was a turning point in
architecture for many.
Hoffman met Charles Rennie MacKintosh in
1902 and the combustion of ideas from two continents certainly fuelled
the fire in the bellies of the Wiener Werkstatte of Vienna. Hailed as
a genius by the Viennese. MacKintosh would die largely a forgotten man
in his own country but be held as a everlasting beacon of hope in
Europe.
The Die Fledermaus chair was originally
painted white and these original chairs now command a kings ransom
but this version is shown in a 1916 sales catalogue for J& J
Kohn as model no 728.
This is a chair with balls.
Something
that along with the chequer board motif was Hoffmans trade mark.
He
would come to be know as square Hoffman.
And it works in all its variations of
the theme its simple decoration, less is more is now proving ever more popular
with a new generation who seem to have abandoned the past, wanting
it only in limited quantities.
This chair, one of a pair has an
original label underneath that says THONET MUNDUS. Mundus were a manufacturer
and merged with J & J Kohn in 1914 to furnish the growing
sales of the company.
Thonet merged
with Mundus in 1921
The original fabric is very interesting it
appears to be a design that Gustav Klimt could have done, or was it a
general swirl that he adopted from what was around him. Klimt was an
original member of the Weimer Werkstatte.
This design has now taken on legendary
status.
When you say museum quality.
I sold a exacting pair to The Walker
art Gallery along with a side table some time ago.
I held this pair back.
Its now time to let them go and let someone else have the pleasure of
them.
The pair are in original condition bearing Thonet Mundus-Borlova labels to the underside. Price £3750 for the pair.
I kicked into gear and ran a press
campaign to save it. I felt I was qualified to express my opinions to
the style of architecture being a specialist in the Art Deco period,
a period still undervalued and I made an application to list it.
The application was supported by the
C20 society with special help from the late Gavin Stamp, a real champion
of Liverpools heritage.
I got their support and the support of
SAVE Britain's Heritage who were in the same building in Cowcross
Street London at the time.
Through frantic last minute negotiations I
managed to get the ear of the then Council leader Mike Storey who was
also a board member Liverpool Land company and we managed to get the
prowess of the structure recognised as important.
Then I found out English Heritage would
not list it.
I have lost count how many time those
English Heretics have hindered the saving of a structure. Though
there have been successes.
I recall as the only objector to the
Museum of Liverpool at The Pier Head pleading with the planning
committee in 2005 to reject the scheme, and telling them, here, in
Edge Lane, this was the perfect building for a museum, a ready made
structure.
“Why does the city centre get it
all” I asked “Surely the people of Edge lane deserve the chance”.
I cried. “This would kick start the regeneration that was long
overdue”. They did not listen.
Piloti writing in Nooks and Corners for
Private Eye took up the cause and give me some valuable print. The
Daily post and in particular Peter Elson gave it pages of airtime.
The public seemed to love this building and got behind the campaign.
Letters appeared in the press and it was agreed by the council that
it was a important local landmark.
Mike Storey and his council put out a
call for ideas and the need to create a scheme that would work and it
was announced that Urban Splash had won and we all breathed a sigh of
relief.
Then nothing happened and the recession
crept in.
Then that scheme was dropped then there
was a foolish announcement to turn it into a school.
Nothing happened. Other schemes came
and went and nothing happened.
Recently there has been a lot of
emphasis on filming the city. Even though most of the films have been
low grade rubbish there a big ideas and it was announced that this
building would become “A huge complex that'll be a breeding ground
for the best creative talents in the UK”. http://www.liverpoolfilmoffice.tv/home/capitalcentric-acquires-iconic-littlewoods-buildings/
I had a real sense of pride in helping
to save the landmark and silently inside I was so proud of spending
my time in effort for no financial return but for the love of my
city.
Well all that work now looks a waste of
time and any scheme to regenerate the area now looks in doubt after a
fire has raged through the structure leaving it gutted.
I am gutted too. I drove over to see
the building being engulfed last night, as soon as I received a text from Peter
Elson. It was heartbreaking. The fire starting on the 2nd
September at 7 o'clock, it took several hours to bring under control
and when I saw the fire it looked as if the building that survived
the blitz Militant and 20 years of decay has been finally wrecked by
the years of inactivity. Twenty years it has been laying there empty.
While a fortune of European Objective One Funding totalling near a
billion pounds there was no money for the first landmark you see
driving into the city at the end of the M62.
So now what for the Littlewoods
Building. Lets hope they don't clear the site and build student flats,
that would be a crime. Actually who started the fire?
Some serious enquiries need to be made.
There were several outbursts of anger around the fire last night with
questions being asked, just as to how the tragic fire started. Some asking how this fire started.
Just weeks after it was
announced that Channel 4 would not be bringing their news
headquarters to Liverpool. Very Strange indeed.
Louis Comfort Tiffany was born
(1848-1933) into wealth.
He was a gifted painter in his younger
years.
He was also an architect,designed furniture, textiles, wallpaper
and rugs. He worked in Bronze, silver, wrought iron, wood ceramics
and silver.
But he is mostly known for glass.
“I have always striven to fix beauty
in wood or stone, or glass or pottery, in oil or watercolour, by
using whatever seemed fittest for the expression of beauty; and I see
no reason to change it.”
He expressly refrained from imitating by striving for a new medium.
“God has given us our talents not to
copy the talents of others, but rather to use our brains and our
imagination in order to obtain the revelation of true beauty.”
He searched also for new technical
inventions that could help him with his restless ideas.
The son of Harriet and Charles Lewis
Tiffany, New York. He was the founder of Tiffany & Co a purveyor
of jewelry silver objects and timepieces.
That name had become a
byword for luxury and craftsmanship. Opening in 1837 by the 1870's
his Fifth Avenue store became the place where presidents would buy
gifts for royalty and heads of state. By 1900 they had 1,000
employees around the world.
Louis showed no interest in joining the
family firm instead he went to Eagleswood Military Academy in Perth
Amboy, New Jersey.
In 1865 he toured Europe.
While in London he
visited the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Roman and Syrian glass
made a monumental impression on him.
This same museum now has a
collection of Tiffany Glass.
On return to New York he enrolled in the
National academy of Design and exhibited, in 1867 paintings that were
inspired by his European travels.
He worked alongside George Innes
(1825-1895). He was part of The Hudson River School.
They both enjoyed a
love of nature.
Innes had a dialogue with the Babizon
school of painters who worked near Fontenbleau.
Tiffany went back to Europe in 1868
where he met Leon-Charles-Adrien but could not work within his strict
regime. He then met Leon-Adolphe-Auguste Belly (1827-1877) who was a
painter in the exotic and orientalist style and exhibited at the
Salon.
On return to New York he met Samuel
Colman at the Century Club.
While travelling separately they met in
Granada and decided to travel on to Egypt and Africa together.
Morocco, Tangier where he painted the
Souks. then to Tunisia and Egypt they often painted the same
subjects.
He began to love Islamic art and
started collecting glassware and other objects. These pieces would
lead to later inspiration. He took photographs and would use these
later to recall his influences.
1878 would see him exhibiting street
scenes of New York at the Paris Exhibition Universalle of 1878.
He received many awards and showing his
work at 27 different exhibitions by the age of 21.
He formed the
society of American Artists along with John Singer Sargent and James
McNeil Whistler. He realised his lack of classical training would
always hinder him and his vast wealth gave him the opportunity to
follow a avenue less crowded where those with more skills would
outshine him.
His works of this period is now valued for its skill
and approach and highly valued.
His acquired sense of colour and his
experiences would lead him into creating glass.
Industrialisation would give new
opportunities and the demand for luxury items to fulfil the ambitions
of the new rich industrialists led him to draw on his fathers
reputation.
He formed a Interior design company
that lasted for four years. He would encompass many variations of design
and was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement and in particular
William Morris who was enlightening the world to medieval design and
craftsmanship.
Art Nouveau, was the breath
of fresh air that filled his lungs.
Tiffany would be inspired by art
nouveau and its principle designers but would look to nature for his
own special style. In 1882 he had received a commission from President
Arthur who was a New Yorker to redecorate the Whitehouse where he
would install a three part glass screen to separate the public and
private areas.
Twenty years later Theodore Roosevelt would remodel
the Whitehouse again. This time in a Neo-Classical style.
He and his associates decorated houses
for some of the most wealthy people including Andrew Carnegie
Cornellius Vanderbilt II and the writer Mark Twain. He split with his
associates in 1883 and was free to explore his own independent
projects.
He loved old glass and the way minerals
in the soil had effected the glass when buried for ages. Glass that
dated back to 1450 BC from Egypt was often thought as the earliest
and Syrian glass blowing using a hollow pipe was invented in the 1st
century B.C. Glass is mentioned alongside gold and precious stones in
the bible as a precious commodity.
In the mentioning these treasures, only glass is
made by hand.
Tiffany would go on to form a reputation that has not been equalled.
This small bowl infused with blue and greens is only 5inches wide. But a object of exceptional beauty.
At the time of updating November 2022 The building is closed and all the HMRC staff had been told not to come into work due to a massive leak. Which will have done great damage to the structure. This is what happens when greedy people who are only interested in money are in charge.
All the care and attention that was given to the building. The Architect of this historic structure Herbert Rowse will be definitely turning in his grave. What a complete and utter mess.
INDIA BUILDINGS HAS BEEN BUTCHERED BY LEGAL AND GENERAL (THE DEVELOPMENT ARM OF THE FAMOUS INSURERS).
THEY PURCHASED THE BUILDING FOR AROUND £120,000,000 FROM MARWEES LTD. A BRITISH VIRGIN ISLAND OFFSHORE BASED COMPANY WHO PURCHASED IT FOR £17,000,000. MAKING A MASSIVE PROFIT.......THAT THE TAXPAYER WILL ULTIMATELY PAY FOR!
As soon as they purchased the building MARWEES set about evicting all the tenants in a disgraceful act of greed.
People who had run businesses there were evicted as if they were dirt. Read More Here.
MARWEES employed a pair of Henchmen. Father and son duo Brian and Mark Rabanowitz of Shelborn Asset Management.
They subsequently slid around, behaving like gangsters, ruining the lives of many of the tenants.......for the HMRC. Read More Here
Despite there
appearing to be some level of secrecy, I can confirm that the
beautiful travertine marble arcade is to be butchered with holes
whacked in it all over show. Maybe four of them.
There is a big risk to the architectural integrity Holts Arcade.
Liverpool's famous architect, of repute, Herbert Rowse must be turning in his grave.
15 years ago I was so proud. I had
found a bronze plaque, the original, with detailing that reflected
India Buildings class. It was cast to commemorate the sacrifice of
those that lost their lives in the Great War. That worked for Alfred
Holt and Company. After lots of consternation and a word with the
owners of India Buildings at the time the pedantic building manager agreed to
erect it in the arcade. Though it had
originally been outside Holts Offices it now seemed the fitting place. And it was set on the marble.
I would cry every year at 11 o'clock on
the 11th November when the old Holts Line and Blue Funnel
employees would gather and it would become a focal point. Not just to
remember Holts employees but all those who fell so we could be free,
so we could speak our mind. Be free.
They are now going to twat a hole
right through where it hangs. There is no other way to say it. The HMRC, I overheard don't want it
there. They want it lost, again.
Unbelievable.
There is something magical about this
arcade. The dimensions are just right. Its Classical perfection.
It is as
perfect as you can get.
Some years ago I asked the c20 Society
if they would put their weight behind upgrading its listing status.
Gavin Stamp one of the
countries leading heritage fighters, who Liverpool will sadly miss, backed me.
He was a past Chairman of C20society and put his weight behind it. After a lot of work by
Clare at C20society English Heritage upgraded it from Grade II to Grade
II*.
That seemed to be a protection jacket wrapped around it. To save
its integrity for future generations.
Yet it now seems this wont stop it
escaping the grubby paws of this current crop of unsophisticated
developers and the HMRC.
You know it makes me sick to my back
teeth when we do all that work to put it beyond ruination and then
the place will still get wrecked
In many of my heritage battles I have
often thought myself akin to David fighting Goliath and this bunch
really are Philistines.
They say they have employed heritage
experts. http://www.classicartdeco.co.uk/india-buildings.php Well they cant be that clever or experts if they are in on
this grubby little deal. Some people don't have the integrity to call themselves
experts if they don't understand what heritage means.
They take the
coin to do what they are paid for, not what should be done.
And the
architects are Falconer Chester Hall. It couldn't be worse. Well it could Stiles and Wood got the contract....after they put in the lowest price.
They were talking at one time about polishing all the bronze shopfronts.
To make them look like brass. Lose all the patina.
Money, money, money that's all this new lot seem to be interested in.
There are some things that just need to
be left alone. One is Holts Arcade.
I fought the last lot, Green Property, (see Private Eye 1229 above) and their ideas to close part of the arcade.
But to no avail they had all the power
and did nothing to make lettings happen. India Buildings went into further decline, they were letting the tenants
leave the building with regular abandon.
They needed to empty it out.
Mike Tapp of Green Property advised me that they see the future as a
whole letting. Open offices and a call centre. That where the money
was. John Lee from CBRE had told them so.
So we watched its decline.
Like being strangled slowly every day
they would let another tenant leave.
The building, they said was 75% let
when they took it over after it was repossessed by the banks and the
biggest fraudster in British history Achileas Kalakis did time.
So I was about to close up and a new
lot bought the buildings. Things looked up. We would see a couple of
people walking round and clung on a bit longer. Lawrence Kenwright
was in the running for India Buildings and I have to say I did not
think he had the skill to restore it. It was bought by a British
Virgin Islands offshore company. Then the HMRC were
interested.
Or was there a bit more to it than that? Then they began threatening me. bullying everyone, and they offered me a
relocation terms and it was time to move.
Then they behaved like type and shafted
everyone around me and I knew it was the wrong thing to do.
I could not have held on any longer,
the centre of gravity of the business district had changed.
Then the Philistines shafted me.
But this now gives me a chance to go back. To carry out some unfinished business, because I always regretted not doing more
to alert the public to the vandalism that was about to begin.
I have to be honest I thought I had been abandoned by the public.
My business is
personal to me and I take all things personal. Its my life its not a
business.
If I had of been doing it for money I
would have gone back into property. I had packed that business in a
long time ago, but was afraid I would end up, well like the Philistines that
then owned me.
I am ashamed I let them take me for a ride.
Come back Lawrence Kenwight all is forgiven.
This lot have now closed the beautiful
arcade to the public and the Arcade will never open again, which is Grade II* listed in its
own right, and the shops are to be offices.
And Liverpool City Council are
complicit. Sort of partners in slime really.
The dodgy building manager used to go
past shouting out, “All these are going to be offices” he
would say and I just got angry inside.
But now its time to say it loud.
I am ashamed of myself that I did not
put up more of a fight up.
I am also ashamed that I did not make
more of arguing against it.
The local press had changed it seems
all about twitter now and to be honest even though I was critical of
the last lot of journalists they now seem great intelectuals compared to these new
kids on the twitter feed block.
It was always easy to persuade Peter
Elson as to the merits of history and heritage because he felt it
too.
The city council planners have been
given delegated planning powers over India Buildings.
A Grade II* listed building.
This means they can do virtually what
they want.
The owners and there is now another
company involved India Buildings Development Ltd, with a liability of £100.
Check them out at Companies House. Theres a few characters there. That the HMRC are doing business with. https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10844377
It stinks. So after they have shafted
me I am now free to shout it from the 8th Floor.
This is
the worst thing that could have happened to India Buildings.
I admit it I was wrong and I should
have done something about it.
But where were all the people to help. To complain about the right of way being stubbed out, like The Ramblers. I phoned
them once and this bloke just went on, and on and on, and on, so I
put the phone down.
I cant do it alone is there anyone
out there that cares about this amazing heritage asset. In the World
Heritage Site. (will may lose the WHS status this June, when the
UNESCO World Heritage committee meet).
The Friends Of India Buildings.
The HMRC unions are up in arms about
this move.
The Bootle Strand will be decimated.
The area of Water Street will be
re-invented. But will this be Plastic Town and not Liverpool the city
that used to have character. That is until London, investors with no
real links to the city were touted by Mr Anderson and smoothed along
by the likes of Gary Millar and Nick Small.
It could be the usual David amongst The Philistines, but
y'know I have a sling and I am going to have a fight. Better late
than never. Its that time.
Please if anyone with genuine interests
can help please don't hesitate to contact me.
Bring along your family heirloom or that little something you have always wanted to know a bit more about for a valuation by a member of the Antiques Roadshow team. Why not just come along for a great day out.
I will be present at The Piece Hall Halifax Sunday 8th July, Erddig Wrexham Thursday 26th July and Media City Salford Thursday 30th August and I am so looking forward to it.
This has to be one of the finest
sculptures of all time.
It is one of my favourites, and I have seen a
few.
Only one of his two lifesize sculptures.
I stand there open mouthed every time I see it. I saw a giant casting in The Royal Academy London.
Frederic Lord Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896) was a artist of repute. His art was photographic in its realism. Some of his art such as 'Flaming June' painted in 1895 is known all over the world.
He was able to bring about a resurgence in the art of
sculpture in Britain with this creation by being honest to himself
and with his line of thought and his idea of movement. This work of 1877 pioneered the 'New Sculpture' movement in Britain.
It was a challenge to one of the most famous sculptures of all time 'The Laocoon'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laoco%C3%B6n_and_His_Sons
He chose that very moment of battle. To test his skill.
At the time, it was also known as 'An Athlete Strangling A Python and 'An Athlete Struggling With A Python'
So he went out of his way to make it difficult for
himself by choosing the exact time that a Python is wanting to kill
its human prey.....or is it the other way round.
As a constrictor, the Python would have
been, in elongated and truncated form pumping its body in the fight
that ensued.
The wrestler in turn tensing his muscles as
violently as its foe.
Keeping the monster at bay pushing it away
while it wraps itself wanting to suffocate in a coil of death around
him.
Each fighting for its life, wrestling
for survival. He does not want to be suffocated and consumed, eaten through
that retractable jaw that would dislocate itself to eat something far
bigger than itself. Reticulating its prey inside its jaws, this man
does not want to be a lump inside a giant pair of shoes, you can feel
it.
The strength that would be needed to
exact this very split second in time that Lord Leighton has captured
was immense.
This is a time when photography was in
its infancy, a time when not many people would be able to see, with a
naked eye, even if they witnessed the event. It would happen too
fast.
We can, today video something and slow
it down examining each frame, every second, finding the point that we
wanted to capture, and stop it. But not then.
Most people would not have even seen a
Python unless they went to a zoo.
Today subliminally we seem to know
what everything is, we have discovered everything in passing. Our
imagination is used to it.
We pick things up from TV or images around
us.
And if its not and we wish to query
anything, we can google it.
But not in the age of discovery, the
19th century, that we see here in this amazing piece of
sculpture.
Lord Leighton was able to freeze
frame a subject in his mind and then turn it into a study that bears
reference to classical poise and then make it beautiful even though
it is a violent and scary fight for survival.
This study in bronze was featured in
the very first edition of the studio and its influence on British art
was huge.
It is said that this sculpture brought back the art of
sculpting in Britain and it was an inspiration to a whole generation.
There is a casting of this amazing
bronze in Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery in William Brown Street.
Its
worth a look and if you are ambitious, try and draw a study of it.
Then, you will see, just how good it is.
Of course everything has a price.
Bonhams recently sold a version Provenance
Hartford Hall, Hartford, Cheshire Purchased by the vendors family at the contents sale of Hartford Hall, sold by Messrs' C.W. Provis & Son, Auctions & Valuers on behalf of the executors of the late Mrs K. B. Carver, Wednesday 14th February 1934, lot 128. Thence by family descent.
For a long time I have known the name
of Augustus John and his connection with Liverpool.
I keep on seeing
his portraits, such as The Marshesa Casati with her flame red hair. Luisa Casati looks like a Vamp.
Not as much is known of his sister Gwen.
He had been a prominent player in
Liverpool's Art School and in its standing in the wider establishment.
It appears that for him being there and passing on his valuable
experience and energy to another generation that, we are all the better for it.
Augustus Edwin John had trained at The Slade School
where he was a star.
He was appointed to the Liverpool Art Sheds 1901-02 to
replace Herbert Jackson who had joined up to serve in the Boer War.
It was said he had a brilliant
technique and a uninhibited approach and his Bohemian personality was
well noted.
This drew many students to his life classes. He looked
Bohemian almost like a Jesus of Nazareth character with long flowing
locks of hair down to his shoulders. His sister Gwen was totally the
opposite more of a wallflower.
He married Ida in 1901, she was also a
Slade student.
He painted many University figures while in Liverpool.
There were many artists around, C.J
Allen, Herbert MacNair and Charles Reilly among many others were to become prominent figures in
Liverpool, Allen being a one time assistant to Hamo Thorneycroft.
The
Art Sheds were a place where ideas and thoughts could be brought to
fruition by those who attended.
John settled for a short while at 66
Canning street after short stays with friends. His studio then was No
2 Rodney Street. In 1902 after the birth of their first child David
the John's moved to 138 Chatham Street for five months.
Gwen visited them that summer.
He then moved to Fitzroy Street London
shortly after a failed election to Liverpool Academy in 1902 but he
was back and forth to London by then.
He took a trip to Wales with John
Sampson in 1903 and was still in Liverpool 1904 when Charles Reilly
became Professor of Architecture. Charles Reilly would champion a new
classical style moving away from the Arts and Crafts that was the
fashion of the day, with haste.
Many of his drawings of Liverpool
models were sent via William Rothenstein for exhibition at the Carfax
Gallery.
He was made Honorary Member of Sandon
Society of Artists 1908.
Brought up in the middle class town of
Tenby, the Johns were born the children of a lawyer. Their mother had
died when they were young and they had a nanny to look after them.
Gwen was shy and both her and Augustus
showed a talent for art from an early age.
They stayed aloof from the goings on in
the town. Showing an air of respectability for a middle class lawyer.
He taught his children moral values. Those children would rebel
against the steadiness of their fathers strict Anglican principles.
Augustus who was born 1878 reversed the
tutoring of his father and headed for London to enrol in the Slade
School of Art. He was uncertain of himself and his work was methodical
and unremarkable. The revelation and new sensations of the model in
his first life class would be something he would remember. He worked
hard and in his second year his work became steady and his old master
style astonished the tutors. Henry Tonks proclaimed him the best
draughtsman since Michelangelo. His line became sure and his style
became that of the bohemian.
He discovered women. Woman is beauty and
every artist loves beauty so every artist must love woman. This was
an excuse he needed as he liked the company of woman above anything
and the art gave him his chance to discover his own way of life
centered around the female form.
Augustus became a legend at The Slade
for his drawings but struggled with a brush but won an award for a
biblical scene which was contrived from the old masters.
Gwen joined him there but remained in
the background around Augustus's centre of attention approach. He
commanded the signature John claiming it in his own pushy way.
They lived together for a while. In
several cellars and basements and It was life of differences and she
found it more difficult than he.
He was overpowering and she restrained.
He married a friend of Gwen's, Ida to the dismay of
her family. She adored Gus.
Gwen set off for France with a friend
in 1903. Walking from Bordeaux to Rome she wanted to take her time
and paint. It was said Whistler who she met in Paris influenced her
after she abandoned her walk in Toulouse.
Montparnasse was her home living frugally in order without mess yards from Modigliani who arrived
shortly after her. She painted many scenes with flowers that adorned her
room.
Inside her there always seemed to be that her inner eye was
focused towards the church.
She posed for other artists
including Rodin at the age of 63.
He was the greatest living artist
and she fell in love with him and his prodigious sexual appetite.
She
was obsessed by him but he would not be able to meet her demands
though he really loved her.
He paid her rent and worried about her
cat.
I often think is that Gwen when I see a Rodin sculpture.
The memory of Whistler stayed with her.
Her style stays strong from the start. She painted ordinary folk
while Augustus later went for the big blockier strokes laying paint
in a style of abandon. That worked.
But he always retained a
conservatism within the shadows of his work he always searched where
Gwen seemed to have already found what she wanted to do. He dressed
his sitters in fancy dress. She painted people that she identified
with. Introvert and unassuming.
Augustus decided the Gypsy life was for
him and he hit the open road falling in love with Dorothy McNeil who
he met while living with Ida. His drawings of her show her as a real
timeless beauty. Gwen talked her into becoming his muse and they set
off for a life with Ida. The romanticism of the Gypsy stayed in his
heart and he would take his caravan to Dartmoor with the two woman
looking after Ida's newly born child.
He went to Paris.
Kindly drawn pictures of Caspar show a
tenderness that did not represent the reality. Ida died in a Paris
hospital giving birth.
His wife had posed for him while looking after
seven children.
Romelly John is quoted as saying”They
had to compromise from the Gypsy life to the outside world”.
His paintings of the family show
affection.
He then went to North Wales and he
painted the mountain......that captivated him like one of his lovers.
He then escaped further into nature but returned to Dorset painting blue pools,
perhaps some of his best. His work shows impossible dreams and
fantasies that dwelt in his mind.
He painted Yates and Shaw while in
Ireland and was becoming a society painter in demand capturing the
spirit of the sitter. His work never lost its uncertainty.
Provence called him to the classical
land of his dreams. Roman lands of Greeks and gypsy spirits.
Martigues in Province became his home before
the tourists arrived. He moved north and lived in complete simplicity
with no running water just a well.
His children recalled him as a
overbearing character who always vied for attention.
He built a studio in Chelsea while
partying in the evenings with the rich and famous of the day.
He was
at the peak of his career. He would stride the Kings Road and
Chelsea.
In 1913 Gwen became a catholic. This
was at the deepest time of her affair with Rodin. Maybe a rejection
of her upbringing she found a monastery and the nuns wanted her to
paint religious pictures. Rodin disliked her praying in Church. “I
am like a little animal groping in the dark” she told Gus. She
moved, with her cats into a single room where she seemed happy. She
took time to visit Gus. She rented a room by the sea in Brittany
where she drew the local children wearing the black pinafore of the
school. She drew the innocence of the little folk with tenderness.
She controlled the paint more than she could people. She did not like
to sell her work.
She collapsed in Dieppe right off the
train and she died a few days later.
Augustus threw party's which were funded
by his work but was still searching and in Friars Court he painted
with a passion and intensity that was noticed by his sitters who were
lit perfectly while he mixed his paint telling the sitter off if they
moved a bit. His children found the sittings a strenuous time when he
painted them, always alone except while he painted Dylan Thomas when
one of his children was employed to fill the sitter with beer and
keep him happy.
He painted T.E Lawrence.
Lord Leverhulme was so upset with his portrait that he cut out the head (since only that part of the image could easily be hidden in his vault) but when the remainder of the picture was returned by error to John there was an international outcry over the desecration.
His work was his life but forever he
searched for inspiration and perfection.
He became unfashionable and the
excitement had gone in the 1950's.
The flame had died. His last painting
was a painting of the Camargue gypsies paying homage to their patron
saint.
He called it a failure and said 50
years from now “I will be known as the brother of Gwen John”.
He missed the gypsy life, the outdoors
and said “I wish I had never left Wales”
In 1961 he died aged 83. “Give me
another hundred years” he had said “And I will become a very good
painter”
In the latter years he would sit and
stare at his sisters paintings and the fountain of her work that
showed her moving towards her own abstraction. She did not see small
things in a small way. The things she owned and people she knew, her
cat's.
She exiled herself and the conflict
within them both was played out through the canvasses they left
behind. The essence of her life and existence. The little lark ascending.
Did they have the same insecurities
that drove them on.
Where else can you find a brother and sister on a
journey through art like the John's.
Stained Beech Bent and solid wood
frame. Turned legs.
Gerbruder Thonet had put into
production Model no14 in 1859. This chair is still in production
today.
The Die Fledermaus chair was originally
painted white and these original chairs now command a kings ransom
but this version is shown in a 1916 sales catalogue for J& J
Kohn as model no 728.
This chair, one of a pair has an
original label underneath that says THONET MUNDUS. Mundus were a manufacturer
and merged with J & J Kohn in 1914 to furnish the growing
sales of the company.
