Popping into The Beecroft Gallery this morning, I discovered two paintings by the artist William Crosbie (1915-1999) that absolutely fascinated me, each in their own right and also in comparison and contrast to each other.

The first is “Mother and Child” [1952]:

Born in China to Scottish parents, the National Gallery of Scotland tells us, he studied in Glasgow in the early 1930s, then, in Paris later in the decade. One might suggest then that a number of influences from both places have combined in the creation of this fascinating and really quite mysterious work of art, which leads to a little “gallery” in the mind.

The layering and patterning of shapes through outline, colour and texture brings to mind Eileen Agar’s paintings, the ‘mother’ figure perhaps especially if we look at “Muse of Construction” [1939; c/o Christies], revealing the interaction of Cubism and Surrealism through the 1930s:

The Surrealist element certainly comes through in the unnamed figure floating above the child in Crosbie’s painting: is it an angel, or something more threatening and nightmarish, even the figure of death (note how the mother’s arm blocks it, holding it at bay)?

Both artists also share a powerful sense of colour. The Lyon & Turnbull Gallery notes that in 1939, William Crosbie returned to Glasgow where he was part of “‘a little local renaissance’ with figures including the Scottish Colourist John Duncan Fergusson”…

And the child, protected by the mother certainly, but with a distinct – if perhaps uncertain – individuality that recalls Joan Eardley’s portraits of children such as “Brother and Sister” [1955]:

Looking through William Crosbie’s paintings at National Galleries of Scotland and artuk.org it is clear that he was brilliantly experimental, and that colour was central to his vision as the second painting of his at The Beecroft, “Hampshire Harvest” [1991; Reiff Collection], also shows. In subject matter and style (and indeed scale, for it is tiny in comparison with “Mother and Child” canvas) this is quite a contrast, but the richness of the palette is breath-taking…

Oh, couldn’t one just walk over that little bridge into the golden field of corn – utterly gorgeous!

***

The Reiff Collection is on show at The Beecroft, Southend on Sea until 30th October:

see Southend Museums for further details.

Join us at The Beecroft Gallery in Southend-on-Sea on Saturday 29th October, at 11.15 am (for an hour or so) to discuss three women artists at the heart of the avant-garde in early 20th-century Paris:

Sonia Delaunay

Interior Scene

[1922; c/o http://viewing-room.galeriezlotowski.fr/sonia-delaunay/%5D

Marie Vassilieff

The Dance

[1913; c/o https://www.pariszigzag.fr/secret/histoire-insolite-paris/marie-vassilieff-le-coeur-artistique-de-montparnasse%5D

Marie Laurencin

Spanish Dancers [1921; L’Orangerie]

and, Francois Angibout

Cordes-de-Ciel, France

[1920; c/o https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5313128%5D

These meetings are open to all, do join us if you can!

Saturday 29th October, 11.15am (followed by coffee & biscuits)

The Beecroft Gallery, Southend-on-Sea £10 on the door.

***

My goodness, this city is full of art. My last day here, so a quick scoot firstly to the Musee d’Orsay where from so many highlights – indeed all the joys of Impressionism! Oh, okay, here’s one of Monet’s fabulous “Haystacks”, the series of paintings that inspired Kandinsky to abandon his career in law and become an artist.

Claude Monet (1840-1926): “Haystacks, End of Summer” [1891]

But I have chosen for my d’Orsay postcard an amazing sketch by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec: “A Woman in Profile (Madame Lucy)” [1896]…

I say ‘sketch’, but it is extraordinary how with apparently simple brush-strokes, gestural patterns of line and colour, the artist makes Madam Lucy so vividly present.

Then to the Musee d’Art Moderne and, oh my, Natalia Goncharova!

Firstly a “Still Life” (1911), then this mind-blowing “Two Spanish Women” (1930 or thereabouts):

In the gallery’s label, they quote a critic declaring: “these are not women, they are cathedrals!”

And to finish with a blast of full colour again, here’s Pierre Bonnard’s “The Garden” (1936):

so it’s Au Revoir to Paris (for now)!

what a day at the Pompidou! so many fabulous paintings such as Sonia Delaunay’s “Le Bal Bullier” (1913) which stretches the length of a wall – a vibrant, joyous dance of colour:

also Natalia Goncharova’s incredible “Femme au Chapeau” (1913) which, I learned, is actually a self-portrait – those eyes!

earlier in the day I discovered the doorway to Goncharova’s Paris apartment at 16, rue Jacques-Callot, right next door to the La Palette cafe!

my painting of the day though just has to be Wassily Kandinsky’s “Painting with Red Oval” [1914] – shimmering with colour

just as Paris itself is shimmering in glorious autumn sunshine!

Join us at the Beecroft Gallery, Southend on Saturday 24th September (11.15am-12.30pm, or thereabouts) for the last in our little series “Surrealist Magic”.

We’ll begin with works such as Edith Rimmington’s The Oneiroscopist [1947, Jewish Museum] and, as we open our minds into the possibility of other ways of seeing ourselves and the world, our focus will turn to the life and art of Leonora Carrington whose ‘artist manifesto’ might be seen from her early

“Self Portrait (Inn of the Dawn Horse)” [1937, Metropolitan Museum, NY].

It will be a morning of stunning and inspirational pictures, I promise!

All are welcome to join us, £10 on the door with coffee & biscuits to follow.

Well, whilst some people might visit the Louvre to see Leonardo’s “Mona Lisa”, for me the absolute highlight of the entire collection is:

Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun (1755-1842)’s portrait of Madame Mole-Reymond, painted in 1786; the blue and lilac are quite extraordinary.

And for those of you who share my fascination for Marie Laurencin (1883-1946), some of her work is on show at L’Orangerie, including “Femmes au Chien” (1926):

Again, the colours!

Laurencin’s usual pinks and blues plus, here, a dramatic stripe of yellow-gold – quite thrilling!

***

and today it is very much back to the 1920s, les annees folles and modernes:

I mean where else would one find a ‘street art’ portrait of artist Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita (1886-1968), one of the characters of inter-war Montparnasse life?

My main mission though was to be ‘on the trail’ of Nancy Cunard,

finding not only her flat at 2, rue de la Regrattier, overlooking the Seine and Notre Dame (amazing to see the ongoing restoration work)

but also the site of her Hours Press shop at 15, rue Guenegard:

Then on to the most extraordinary exhibition: “Les Cercles de la Baronne” at Galerie La Minotaure.

The eponymous la Baronne was Hélène d’Œttingen (1887-1950), whose story is little known and yet, as the painter François Angiboult, she was a heartbeat of the modern art movement in Paris that included Nina Hamnett’s friend, the brilliant artist Marie Vassilieff (1884-1857) who designed numerous puppets, shown at the exhibition.

All very exciting indeed… more to come!

Join us for the “Words & Pictures” book club on

Friday 23rd September, 2pm at Pebbles cafe (in the old Havens on Hamlet Court Road)

to discuss Amy Licence’s “Bohemian Lives”

All welcome for a relaxed, informal conversation over coffee & cake!

*

Ida Nettleship was a flamboyant Bohemian who gave up a promising artistic career to marry Augustus John. She had five pregnancies in just six years, lived with Augustus and his mistress in a menage a trois, and died exhausted in childbirth aged thirty. Ida’s story of unconventional love is equalled by two other Bohemian women of the same era: Picasso’s first love Fernande Olivier, who was prominent in the Paris art scene, and the writer Sophie Brzeska, who lived with the artist Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, nineteen years her junior – he would die in the First World War and Sophie’s slow descent into mental instability would begin. Bohemian Lives follows the achievements and sacrifices of the three women and how their lives overlapped and contrasted, in education, childbirth, illness, marriage – and psychological disintegration. All three women had a huge influence on their more famous partner and challenged the accepted model of male-female relations of the time. At once touching and harrowing, their struggles for recognition in their own right hold a mirror up to the prejudices of an age – and what being ‘bohemian’ really meant.

Aberley publishing, 2019

A portrait of Ida Nettleship painted by Augustus John in 1902:

A portrait of Sophie Brzeska painted by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska in 1913:

and Picasso’s 1909 portrait of Fernande Olivier (Stadel Museum):

***

Greetings! There was so much intrigue & interest in our ‘gallery’ of British Surrealist art, that I have copied & pasted some of the presentation slides below, really so that you have a list of the artists’ names to research further. Whilst I would recommend just typing names into the browser and seeing what comes up, particular websites for research include: ArtUK; Christie’s; Sotheby’s and Bonhams.

There is a website dedicated to British Surrealism; also the Tate has a lot of archival material, especially about Eileen Agar, John Banting and Ithell Colquhoun – much of which is digitally available.

There is an exhibition of the Sherwin Collection at the Hepworth until January 2023. The Dulwich Picture Gallery has some interesting online resources, and Austin/Desmond has a fabulous little online gallery.

Books are available on some individual artists, but I’d suggest the best overview is “Surrealism in Britain” by Michel Remy.

NB Len Lye is renowned for his experimental films. “The Colour Box” and “Tusaleva” can be found on YouTube. I’d also recommend “The Birth of the Robot” which Lye made with John Banting. See also The Len Lye Foundation.

Books on Eileen Agar: Hatchards

NB: The BBC’s “Desmond Morris – Secret Surrealist” is on YouTube.

We’ll continue our discussions next month (Saturday 24th September, 11.15am, The Beecroft), starting with Edith Rimmington…

Edith Rimmington, The Oneiroscopist, 1947
Photo credit: The Israel Museum, Jerusalem by Elie Posner © Estate of Edith Rimmington c/o Country Life

…and our focus with be the surreal world of Leonora Carrington:

The Giantess (The Guardian of the Egg) [1947; private c/o Wikipedia]

And if you would like to read your way into Leonora Carrington’s world, then there is no better path than her wonderfully brilliant novel: The Hearing Trumpet.

Happy researches (and do please let me know what you discover)!

***

Join us for the second in our Summer of Surrealism series to discuss

the manifestation of Surrealism in 1930s & 40s Britain:

Saturday 27th August, 11.15am-12.30pm

at The Beecroft Gallery, Southend-on-Sea.

NB The gallery’s new exhibition of paintings from the Reiff Collection, includes works by Surrealists Eileen Agar and Conroy Maddox, and is well worth viewing!

As ever, all are welcome to join the Art, Books & Culture Group – a relaxed and open discussion of ideas.

Tickets cost £10 on the door. We will start at 11.15am and finish around 12.30pm with coffee & biscuits. The meeting will be held in the Lecture Theatre at The Beecroft Art Gallery, Southend.

***