The journal of the Chelsea Arts Club is sponsored by
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GREAT TRADITIONS N°4 "NO CHEF'S SPECIAL LEFT!"
THE
JOURNAL
OF
THE
CHELSEA
ARTS
CLUB
Chelsea Arts Club
M
Centenary Portfolio This centenary collection (edition of 100) of sixteen different artists works is still available. The collection of 16 silkscreen
prints, each numbered and signed is presented in a beautiful conservation box
SAREMA
which itself is numbered and sealed.
The collection includes work by:-
FLAT FOR SALE
Queen's Gate SW7
Ivor Abrahams
Niel Bally
Peter Blake
Sandra Blow
Shelagh Ciuett
Jeffery Edwards
Barry Flanagan
Patrick Hughes
Paul Huxley
Albert Irvin
Gwyther Irwin
Tim Mara
Barry Martin
Patrick Procktor
Peter Sedgley
Stan Smith
92 year lease, Lower Ground Floor — Large French Doors
on to green patio. Own front door off private courtyard. Reception, two bedrooms, huge kitchen, Bathroom. Rural atmosphere. Price £185,000
This stunning collection is still available at
Sarah Charles or Michael B.
the extraordinary price of f495 to Members
071-370 6027
only 7 (one portfolio per Member) and deferred payments are possible.
Freehold Studio for Sale
If you would like to own one of these
Bedford Park, Chiswick, London W4
portfolios at the once in a hundred years
The accommodation comprises a large, original studio, Bedroom, Gallery, Dressing area, Kitchen, Bathroom.
prices, contact the office, 071 376 3311.
This original Victorian studio in thehistoric Bedford Park
Chelsea Arts Club
conservation area ofChiswick is a fine example.
Centenary Collection
It is close to all essential services and would be ideal for
a sculptor or painter.
for Members Only
^£165,000
Private Sale — phone Richard Smith on 081-994 0349
THE WHISTLER 2
EDITORIAl
WHTstler VOL 1 NO 4 AUTUMN 1992
THE MOSTimportant news forthe Clubjournal is the newly acquired sponsorship from leading fme art insurers, Crowley Colosso. Lengthy discussions with Graham Young of Crowley Colosso have resulted in a 12 month sponsorship programme worth £8,000 to the Club coffers (£2,000 per edition). This enables our journal to enter 1993 with a moderate amount of confidence and, hopefully, when the recession
In This Issue...
fades our usual advertisers will re-emerge to help develop The Whistler and increase
its range of activities. Meanwhilewe look forward to welcoming Graham Young into the Club as a 'Special Sponsor' in the near future. (NB: copies of the terms of agreement between The Whistlerand Crowley Colosso are availablefor inspection
Letters
from Philip Roberts).
Since launching the 'paper on behalfof my fellow Members I have always been of the opinion that the Editor's job shouldbe a revolving commitment, thus enabling others to try out the role for themselves. It would be an efficient arrangement to change editors every four issues, theoretically a 12 month cycle. I have already declared my willingness to continue as 'managing editor' - which is essentiallythe mechanic who makes the thing work. The (controlling)Editor's job would thereforebe the relatively easy one of getting in the copy and advertising. It only remains to point out that an Editor appointed (by the Council) whosubsequentlyfailedtodeliver thegoods would find Club life very uncomfortable. So - serious applications only, please!
Every effort is made to accommodateall correspondents to theJoumal.This means, literally, that each and every contribution will be published, asspacepermits,as soon after receipt as possible. Obviously, an announcement that becomes totally of date by the time ofpublication would be edited, but other than that, please use The Whistler to communicate with the Council, Management, or fellow Members. It appears that a number of letters were published in the last edition whose origins were somewhat obscure. Each Whistler that goes to press is scrutinised by at least two members of the 'publishing panel' as well as the Editor. We were all remiss in not spotting the use of pseudonyms on that occasion. The new ruling is that any anonymous correspondence will be unceremoniously shredded, whatever its con tents. Letters from non-Members will be printed only if space and subject matter
Whistler Room Notes Chairman's Letter / Club Notes
Arts Club Ball Excerpt from Tom Cross
Albert Hall Bash
10
The newBall explained
Diary
11
Johnnie Ruskin / Noticeboard
allows.
There has been a dismal reaction to our call for old photographs and other CAC memorabilia that might be publishedto entertain the readership. May I underline the fact that no material loaned for such a purpose would suffer any damageand can be returnedalmost immediately. Tom Cross's excellent 'history' has demonstrated just how interesting these personal memoirs can be. AND FINALLY. The next edition (Winter 1992/3) will contain a wide ranging questionnaire. The Council will shortly be debating how, via your directly mailed 'paper, a 'one man - one vote' system can be accurately established. Possibly your postcode might be the perfect (personal yet anonymous) ID method. In fact, all Members of Council and the Managementare exceedingly keen on the democratic process andthis would offer a veiy importantrole for The Whistler to play both now and in the future.
With best wishes to all readers.
Mike von Joel
THE WHISTLER is published by the Chelsea Arts Club, All material © THE WHISTLER
PRINTED BY;
^
12
Patrick welcomed as Trustee
Bookend
16
Gordon Rookledge on a Gentleman's weakness
Colour Section
21
Dudley's page
Smalls
143 Old Church Street, London SW3. EDITOR: CONSULTANT EDITORS:
Redeeming Vice
22
Those lovely flimsy bits MIKE VON JOEL HUGH GILBERT D. WINTERBOTTOM HIGHART LIMITED
071 376 3311
COVER:
Fax: 071 351 5986 THE WHISTLER 3
GREAT TRADITIONS N°4 "NO CHEF'S SPECIAL LEFT!
APOSSIBLE CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY. Dear Whistler,
Who's Who Needed?
I was interested to read your letter in the excellent issue ofThe Whistler received today.
are you writing to "Dear Sir" - yourself? You must know who "dearsir" is? Normally one
ends such a missive with "yours faithfully
Dear Whistler,
I have just finished reading the latest (Vol 1, No 3) of the magazine and I would like to make the followingpoints in answer to your readers' letters.
The complaints about service at the bar are totally unfounded. Both Max and Bridie do a great Job serving everyone. There is no doubt that between say 7.00 pm and 8.30 pm there
butI expect "sincerely" does.
Thank you very much for carrying my ads
membership and making sure they sign guests in. Let's not have any moresilly, petty complaints. If they don't like it... they can go elsewhere!
I just wanted to thank you for publishing my
justifiable complaint, write about it and sign
did you think of that Langdon cartoon!!?).
their name.
TheAGBI has already benefitted from it,
Paul Jantet
more staff for at least four hours which
P.S. May I suggest that where you publish an address, you print the whole postal code?
Tony does not treat the restaurant as his own, and if people only bothered to book, they
will always get a warm welcome from the staff. If you haven't booked and turn up around 9.00pm when things are flying, you can't expect a long winded explaination as to why you can't have a seat.
(to us)man sent us ÂŁ2,(X)0 afterreading it. Also 1had a very good letter from Niel Bally, which I shallread to Council at our next meeting. So again thank you! Best wishes,
circumstances will letters be published without the author's name (terrorist matters etc.) As a rule addresses will not be printed. With reference to the unidentifiedletters
concerned that pseudonyms are no longer acceptable. ED
"A BIG HELLO"? Dear Whistler,
have to disagree with your inference that
Up!! I would bemost interested to know where
our excellent Dining Room custodian was
the victim ofan editing imbalance. ED
The Whistler!
those members who advertise in the new and
Ann James
locality - beware Tony! My onlycomplaint is
I
Next issue
deadline:
November 25th
most welcome Lonely Arts Section of The Whistler, seeking a partner (or more)?
Letters intendedfor publication should be short and to the point. It is essential that all
Issue number 3 contains a number of
We've sorely needed one for all these years. Please add my voice to those protesting the
seemingly most attractive propositions, begging for a reply, but in many cases there is no possible clue to the sex of the
monopoly of the Bar area by thesnooker
advertiser.
table. There isn't a member Tknow who doesn't want it OUT! I think your suggestion of a referendum conducted through the
If I felt inclined to reply to one or two which I most certainly do -1 am faced with the possibility that I am seeking a date with Max, with Hugh, with Dudley or even with Christopher Moorsom. Just imagine the
letters received contain the name and address
ofthe correspondent Nofaxes please!
embarrassment!
SOMEONESAILING aOSE TO THE WIND ... !
Please help me, and probably many other Lonely Members' Arts!
Dear Whistler,
Ref: Mr Mainwaring-Smith
Yours hopefully, Peter Hope Lumley
sonally but I could not find your name on the membership list. I expect that this is due to yourspelling your name incorrectly due tothe
pressure thrown on your goodselfin your re Thank you for pointing out the sloppy way I
other matter in particular.
viewpointfrom those whowoulddisagree.
Iagree with you -although Irespectthe
praising TC in the last issue also, so1would
Unashamedly,
ED
Yours sincerely, jRoberf Woodward
wish to state my opinion. Thumbs Up! Thumbs
Is there any way of indicating the gender of
sure there would be a corresponding
to be so cheerful - and polite, helpftil and charming - and produce consistentlygood
seem to recollect another correspondent
Congratulations on your splendid jobwith
you feel the snooker table near the Bar is an issue, why not raise it via an article? I feel
somewhere else. I have never encountered someone who works so hard and yet manages
Spring/Summer '92 edition ofThe Whistler. 1
the additional ÂŁ2.00 charge for guests.
opinions ofall the membership equally- if
I was outraged by the cowardly, anonymous attack on Tony and the dining room. Thank God he does run the dining room for us and doesn't run his personal restaurant
referenceto "ThumbsUpl Down?" in the
Dear Whistler,
The Whistler^s job is to air the viewsand
Dear Whistler,
li appears youcannot please everyone - in
Dear Whistler,
in relation to the snooker tables or any
ANOTHER NOMINATION FOR A1992 'TONY AWARD'!
right of someone else to differ if theywish. I
Members where this can be obtained in the
The suggestion for using the journal as a basisfor a referendum wasnot putforward
time- but I think you should be called
MacNaughty ifanything. ED.
Well, he deserves them.
SHOT IN THE DARK?.
With best wishes Pat Mahon Waller
through thesmall adsifyou send them in on
It suddenly occurs to me that "Name witheld by request" is Tony fishing for compliments.
vibrant and controversial letters page? ED
IS rr WORTH RISKING A
magazine is great - theonly fair way to do it.
The editor's letter goesinto thepostbox along with the others- hencethethirdperson bit Within reasonyou canplugyourbusiness
Surely the perfect example ofthe needfor a
THE OLD SNOOKER IN AND OUT?
particular I think you're shaping the magazine into a first rate club publication.
magazine edUorialpanel are available atpage proofstage before the 'papergoes topress.
food.
"Name is witheld by request"can find as pleasant an atmosphere, the big helloTony greets onewith and his ability to always find a space forone, as well as the quality and priceof the meal. Hopeftilly you will be able to advise
With the last issue (Spring/Summer) in
Contrary to popular belief,'allpublished letters
Philip Hicks
Theeditoritdpanel has decidedthat
anonymous letters will not beallowed in future andonly in themost exceptional of
printedin the last issue (contributed without the benefitof the newguidelines) - the art panel has assured the Management that these The complaints about the doormen are totally were genuine receipts reproduced bythe Editor in goodfaith. It is agreed by everyone ridiculous. TTiis is the Chelsea Arts Club. Not a West End posers' club. Both doormen do a great job having to check people's
AGBI article in full and for the layout (how
both in words and also money. An unknown
the bar staff in order to hurry the service is quite unnecessary. It would mean hiring
bar staff.
POWER OF THE PRESS!
I would just like to add that you should NEVER publish a reader's letter without publishingtheir name! If they have a
Yours sincerely
entails more people behind the bar and more expense. With a bit of patience, everyone does get served by a very helpful and hustled
about houseboats for sale. Can I placemore
Dear Whistler,
tends to be a rush at the bar. But to increase
with all best wishes, Sherrell Macnaugtan
arechecked by whatever members ofthe
But I wonder who is, indeed, needed? Why
EVERYTHING IN THE GARDEN'S ROSY... ... AT LEAST rr WAS WHEN I LAST LOOKED!
in future and can my name be Macnaughtan and not McNaughtan?
lentless pursuit of excellence.
am dressed whilst on duty on the door of the
Club. I hope the next time you will notice the
The Lonely Arts has been a big success. The Dining Room waitress is still answering her postbag (apparently!). Absolute confidentialityis guaranteed and only the Editor knows the identity of the advertisers.
changed my tailor, shoe & shirt maker, in the
Asfor deciphering whois whator who? That is surely part ofthe magic?
I would have liked to have thanked you per
improvement as I have sacked my Valet,
hope that this will put the offending matter right.
THE WHISTLER 4
I would respectfully advise you toexamine the windscreen of your Ford XR3 to make sure that the "Smitty" and "Sharon" are correctly spelt and displayed. Yours in Sartorial Elegance Ron (the Doorman)
LIFE SENTENCES BINGO
CHAIRMAN'S LEHER
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK NOBBY CLARK - Photographer and videomaker. Son of pub landlord; started out photo graphing the National Youth Theatre, and now has pictures from all the major theatres, and work for Observer, Times and Guardian, in his
portfolio. Likes cricket, whisky, women, and
Dear Members,
the enigma of China.
I would like to congratulate Mike von Joel on the successful negotiations which have secured the support of Crowley Colosso in sponsorship of this magazine.
The Chelsea Arts Bail at the Albert Hall 11 October 1992;remember to buy your tickets... £25 buys a ticket which confirms a place in the Gods but - you are of course intended to spend mostof your time on the dance floor enjoying the party. The theme of the Fancy Dressis to come as your favourite painting
JOHN HUNTINGFORD - Mature Art Stu
dent. Ex-wine shipper now doing MA at the Courtauld. Looking for "a passage between the Scilla of traditional, formalist art history and the Charibdis of contemporary cultural theory". Has staged ceramics shows including
black and white. Prints his own work. Other
(passionate) interest, playing guitar.
JESS WILDER - Proprietor, Portal Gallery. With Patrick Hughes organised Chelsea Arts Club Centenary Table TennisTournament for the Beryl Cook Trophy. Hughes flattened her in the event. Likes Bollinger, Great Art, and pulling the wings off flies. ROSEMARY CLANCHY - Painter. Land
scapes and nudes. Trained at Byam Shaw and Royal College. Exhibitions at Edwin Pollard and Charlotte Lampard Galleries.
American ceramics at V&A; Hon. Treas. of the Patrons of New Art at the Tate. Likes
BRIAN ROGERSON - Paintmaker, proprietor
or sculpture.
music and sailing.
of Spectrum OilColours. Studied Art at Salford,
Raffle Tickets on sale in the Ball will secure prizes, a large Triumph Motor
MAURICE AGIS - Sculptor, working on pub lic art and performance projects. Trained at St. Martins. Awards include: Sainsbury; Sikkens
smiths.Businessstartedina sentryboxinReigate,
then at Sir John Cass School of Art and Gold
bike, and others. The proceeds go to the Aids Crisis Trust, and the Chelsea Arts Trust. We are hoping to grow the Club's Trust by £15,000. If we do, then we want to commission work by artist(s) which follows and reflects the
scientific research being undertaken to exhibit later next year.
favour of the Trust mentioned above.
painting, music, books and tennis.
Prize; GLAA and Arts Council Awards; USA
National Endowment; Glasgow Garden Festi val; Bow Quarter; Bedford Park. Exhibits world-wide. Inventor of "Colourspace" series.
All the expensive seats are already sold, which is excellent news, and the organisers, both Club Members, Nick Hutchinson and Alexander Sombart, are to be congratulated for the efforts which are securing all sorts of bands and singers... see the notice board for latest additions. To allay any fears, and scotch one rumour, the Club has not sold the Chelsea Arts Ball, merely licensed the use of the name for one night in return for the consideration in
then Amersham, now South Wimbledon. Likes
GEORGINA HUNT - Painter, mainly ab stract but also figurative, landscape and por
JAMES LOVEGROVE - Novelist and car
toonist. Drawing work spans humorous post cards, political caricature, altemative corpo rate images, and T-shirt designs. Also working on "Difficult Second Novel". Favours bibulousness and camaraderie.
traits. Studied at the Slade under William
Coldstream. Exhibits here and abroad. Other
JOHN PAUL - Painter, uses "en plain air"
interests include conservation, music and read
technique. Trained at Camberwell, lectured to
ing.
community workers, the DHSS and the Disa bled, and worked with MENCAP and SHAPE.
John Lane, President of the Glasgow Arts Club has been in touch recently to make contact, and to explore the possibility of an exchange exhibition with our sister Club. No details have been worked out yet. This is the lime to remind Members that we are beginning to collect in photograph and catalogue form, examples of artists work, to help in the preliminary selection or invitation of artists to be involved in projects such as this. (Please send your information and examples of work to Kate in the secretariat, she willforward it to the Arts Sub Committee).
Jane Lushlngton has suggested the possibility of organising a sculpture exhibition in the Club Garden. Sculptors are frequently poorly represented in traditional viewing spaces and this could prove an exciting exhibition (sculp tors please send examples of work to Kate).
MARY GILBERT - Painter, candlelit still-
Head of Fine Art at the Masbro Road Arts
lifes and landscapes. Studying for BA at Falmouth. Has daughter, Athena, and cats. Eccentric; likes to swim in the sea most days, and belongs to Serpentine Polar Bear Club (they're the ones whojump into the Serpentine on Christmas day - Ed.)
Centre. Author of "The Art Pack". Member of
JOHN GARBUTT - Sculptor. Work is figu rative "containing elements of social realism, symbolism and expressionism". Exhibited RA and other prime venues, also at Leningrad/St Petersberg where he was mistaken for an expert on the British Royal family - may have played a small part in the course of Russian history.
In my last letter, 1 asked for comments about some of the issues which
TONY SAMSTAG - Joumalist. Native New
Members feel strongly about, and received responses predominantly about two issues, smoking and snooker. The second topic has had an airing in Council recently, and the general feeling was to maintain the status quo for the time being.
Yorker with Norwegian wife and British pass port. Times Nordic correspondent. Probably eccentric. Claims "physiognomic dyslexia" (can't recognise people - Ed), but will always
Smoking though has stimulated quite a response, both through the suggestion box and by word of mouth. During the next couple of months, action will be taken which will bring down the level of smoke in the Club, and measures will be taken to make areas of the Club non smoking, for instance the loggia in the dining room, and/or the Members table, and perhaps the serving bar in the Members Room. Please let me have your preferences and thoughts.
remain courteous. Bon viveur who owns his
own fax machine, so buy him a drink and send him your picture and he'll never forget you.
JACK BANKHEAD - Graphic artist, adver tising. Works in colour but prefers working in
the Hesketh Hubbard Art Society, the Federa tion of British Artists and the Fine Art Re newal Association. On the Council of the Lon
don Sketch Club. Bom in Old Church Street,
Chelsea. Likes travel, swimming, and moun tain and hill-walking. REG CARTWRIGHT - Painter/illustrator.
Influenced by Rousseau. Started professional career designing embroidered badges, then became commercial artist and eventually art director, now full-time painter and illustra tor of children's books etc. Best-known works
include: Soft Machine LP sleeve, Esso ad. Lives in Leicestershire with wife Ann and two sons.
ANNABEL GOSLING - Painter, landscapes and interiors. Trained at Angers Beaux Arts and Byam Shaw. Won Byam Shaw and Leverhulme scholarships. Lives and works be tween Spain and England. Exhibitions at RA Summer Show, Royal Societies of British An-
ists and Portrait Painters et al. Enjoys the sybaritic life.
Corridor Exhibitions
There will be an exciting photo report on the events at the Albert Hall in the next issue (Winter Edition) of The Whistler. Dinner for two with wine for the
Member judged by the Council to be the most photogenic (!?!).
Peter Pederson, portrait photographer Cosmo Campbell, photographs of Barcelona
With best wishes to all Members
New Members Exhibition
Hugh Gilbert
Albany Wiseman Suzie O'Reilly Raymond Elston
Chairman
THE WHISTLER 5
29 September— 13 October 13-27 October 27 October — 10 November 10 - 24 November 24-8 December 8-22 December
EXTRACT ARTISTS & BOHEMIANS
GREAT BALLS FOR HIRE
Tom Cross has provided the Club with an excellent
'biography'. What better
introduction to the newly rebom Albeit Hall
extravaganza than an extract
from his comprehensive survey of 100 years of ups and downs at the Chelsea Arts Club?!
HE FIRST Arts Ball after the
w
War was held on New Year's
Eve 1946. The theme was 'Ren
aissance' and more than four thousand people danced round the great centrepiece of a Phoe nix: at midnight he was reborn, his eyes lit up, his giant wings were ablaze, rockets (impelled on wires) shot up to the ceiling and the bal loons floated down. The costumes were bi
zarre; some barely existed. The students wheeled out their tableaux; one, built in two tiers, representing Heaven and Hell. On the
topdeck werea groupof rathershaky angels in rakish haloes, tormented bydemons with spiky tails and savage homs, who shook their tri dents viciously.The figure of Joan (not Jonah) appeared in the mouth of a plasterwhale sur
rounded by scalymermaids. A very large and very pink plaster Venus rose ftom the foam in
a piece called 'Bottichelsea' and a group of nymphson a Greek stage made anothercharm ing group.
Following the established tradition, the tab
leaux were torn to pieces leaving a great deal ofplaster and broken wood to be swept up by the stewards before the dancing could resume. As the new year was bom, artists, models, art students, stars of stage and screen and anexu
berant crowd rejoiced in one great glittering pageant; the first post-war Chelsea Arts Ball
had captured its old carefree revelry. Itwas as if the war had never happened. iHMM
It was a post-war miracle that there was a
THE WHISTLER 6
ball at all, for the Albert Hall, which hadbeen used for patriotic rallies during the war, had escaped major damage. The Club was anxious to restart the great occasion; discreet enquiries were made to find out if Sherwood Foster was
again able to produce the Ball, for it was known that he was unwell. Sadly his wife reported that he was seriously ill and quite unable to take part. In fact he was past hope of recovery and died in October 1946. The extro vert sculptor Loris Rey, who was now ex tremely active in the Club, offered to take his place and became managing director of the Ball Company. Loris Rey was a Scot from Kirkcudbrightwith a love of poetry and an extravagantattitude to life - his wit was as sharp as a needle. He had joined the Club at the outbreak of the war; within a year he was suspended for breaking the licensing laws by selling drinks at the bar door, but he soon became an indefatigable member, served on Council on a number of occasions and became Chairman in 1948. He
was Librarian, Treasurer and for a time he was the turbulent Secretary of the Club; he even looked after the garden. Loris Rey was an ambitious drinker, as were many others as that time; he was also invariably rude to the younger members.
His first task, after taking over responsibil ity for the Arts Ball, was to assemble the team of artists and craftsmen, at a time of national
shortages in post-war Britain. The Albert Hall was available but the rent had more than dou
bled. Delicate negotiations were required within the new licensing laws for a late extension: eventually one was granted until 5 a.m., never previously given at the Albert Hall. The great floor had been stored during the war and no body knew what condition it was in, but it was tested and found to be in order. Foity men were required to erect it on its steel supports and the floor was then laid on a framework of
springs for dancing. A.R. Thomson designed the huge backcloth for the first Ball, which was painted by A. Bilibin; the cost of his services, including five buckets of colour, tips and bribes, was ÂŁ34.15s.9d. The centrepiece, 'the Phoenix', was designed by Frank Dobson and made at the Royal College of Art where he was Professor of Sculpture; it was built of limber, cloth and laths, with flapping wings and flames provided by ingenious lighting. The bands were engaged, the famous 'Blue Rockets' Dance orchestra, directed by Eric Robinson, 'Felix Mendelssohn and his Hawai
ian Serenaders' (with dancing girls) and 'Leslie Douglas and his ex-Royal Air Force Bomber Command Dance Orchestra'. Balloons were a
problem. Weeks beforehand exhaustive en quiries had been made, but because of wartime controls the production of balloons had been prohibited and none had been manufactured for some years. The Club was offered carnival
novelties, but this would not do. After a great
deal oftrouble an emergency supply was rushed through by one of the manufacturers. The stimts
whisky and gin had been raised to ÂŁ4.10/- per bottle. After such a long absence the Press were uncertain as how to present the Ball to their readers.
The costumes were discussed by the fash ion writers. In the Daily Express, Patricia Lennard wrote; 'The most striking gown at last night's Chelsea Arts Ball was the one that was not worn by a nymph on one of the floats. Many of the evening gowns,in fact were barely there. Cleavage reached new depths, back and front. The strapless evening gown won by a neck and shoulders.'
Trafalgar Square. Organizing the huge affair
was then a schoolboy and he came as a specta
that the Ball had become occupied about six months; towards September there was a steady intensification of effort, involving hundreds of operatives, conferences on music, lighting,
tor with his friend Keith Critchlow. From their
sound and (very vital) catering. Offices and staff were organized in readiness to deal with the applications for tickets from people all over the country and from many parts of the world. In their studios and schools, the artists
and all art students of London were busy mak ing their costumes, constructing fearsome crea tures in cardboard, and designing the elaborate movable tableaux on which the students of the
Inevitably there were problems. A pipe band had been provided by the Irish Guards Battal ion from Chelsea Barracks. Later, Loris Rey
different art schools, each seeking to outdo
The outraged lady was complaining about a stunt that had been produced by the students of Goldsmiths' College which included two nude models and which had been arranged by Joseph McCulIoch, who taught there, and who was one of the less respectable members of the
their rivals in imaginative and fantastic effect, rode in triumph into the arena. Everything
Chelsea Arts Club.
The sttmt was 'Burning Heretics' in which two wolnen, the heretics, were to be surrounded by students in costumes representing flames. McCuIloch had insisted that he intended to
employ a model called 'Bing' and that she would be nude, but Loris Rey said quite cat egorically that it must not be. On the night of the ball two nudes appeared on the stunt which toured around the hall. The police took the names and addresses of the women and in
formed the Directors of the Ball Company that this was against the law. The Club was forced to take this matter seriously for it feared that a
cormected with the Ball was on the same out
size scale. There were five bands, with more
than 100 musicians, and nearly 400 perform ers who took part in the entertainment. Finally a small army of men was employed to lay the 16,000 square feet of dance floor which cov ered the vast arena.
Stephen Spurrier ARA designed the backcloth for the 1948 Ball, a huge figure of Henry VIII overshadowing the pageantry and pleasures of the Thames. The theme was 'London River'
Ball. It appeared that McCulloch had instructed
and mermaids, which revolved and was illu
thegirls to appearnudeandthathehadboasted
'Export Only'. Artists' models who took part in the stunts were expected to provide their
beforehand that he had 'squared the police'. For this McCulloch was suspended from the Club for three months, but there was no pros
minated to look like water. Among the danc ers, mermaids were also much in evidence, for the film 'Miranda' had recently been shown. The Ball, like all the others, was plaiuied with military precision. The evening started at
ecution. And so the Chelsea Arts Ball settled
into its role as the greatest party of the year.
onNew Year's Eve. As an experiment it was
refused; instead an interview at Alexandra Pal ace was presented for 'Picture Page'. Food
wasnot up to the pre-war standard and the cost of drink had increased considerably. Vintage Champagne was in short supply and when available was now 59/- per bottle; the price of
across the bellies of thefront ranks and hold ing them back with linked arms. Everything seemed to happen at once, the bells of Big Ben
ter?'
and Hammersmith School of Art contributed
quu^ extra lighting which would havespoilt the atmosphere oftheBall, so this request was
for destruction, the stewards throwing a rope
%
and the centrepiece was an illusionist sculp ture of Father Thames, surrounded by fishes
hoped to have a television broadcast from the Hall, but the less-than-sensitive cameras re-
"And then it was the midnight hour and the crowd swept back by the stewards awaited a new year with a ravenous, knock-kneed lust
some unknown air and marched his men out of
the Had and into the street. Rey suspected that this irresponsible action might have had some thing to do with the amount of refreshment the men had taken beforehand and it produced chaos at a critical moment in the evening. Whatever may have taken place in the deeper recesses of the Hall, public displays of nudity were not permitted, though one incident at this Ball was a portent of things to come. A letter was received by London County Council ad dressed to 'The Department of Public Morals'. A lady wrote: 'at a recent gala New Year's Eve night at the Chelsea Arts Ball women were openly mixing with the throngs quite naked. I have always understood this sort of thing was an offence against the Law. Will you please commimicate with me on this point, and if I have not written to the right department, w\U you kindly forward my letter to the right quar
prosecution might endanger the future of the
TheBBC again broadcast from the AlbertHall
own account:
had to write a stiff letter of complaint to the Commanding Officer, saying that the band 'failed to carry out my instructions absolutely.' It appeared that the corporal in charge had reported to Rey in plenty of time and was instructed that on the stroke of midnight he was to play 'Auld Lang Syne' as the band marched through the Hall. At the appointed time, and to everyone's astonishment, he played
were on a somewhat reducedscale. The Royal College of Art produced a 'Dante's Infemo'
own costumes.
high viewpoint in the gallery, the two young men watched the swirling floor, and the devas tating effect of drink on the dancers. With a more cynical eye, John Moynihan wrote his
In 1947, Picasso had been invited to design the backcloth for the theme 'Baroque', but he refused and the decoration was put in the hands of Edward Ardizzone who designed the 120ft.
cloth to hang in front of the organ. The centre piece was a towering figure of the great god 'Pan' designed by William McMillanRA, who was very much in the news as he had recently designed the Victory Medal and his memorial to Admiral Beattie was about to be placed in
10 pm with dancing to the massed bands, reinforced by the great organ. It was a joyous and happy time but there was an undercurrent of violence not previously noticeable. Social pleasures were taken greedily amid the con tinuing rationing of the post-war slump. The art students were men who had served in Nor
mandy and in the desert and their girlfriends had driven ambulances in the London blitz.
Boisterousness more quickly led to aggressive behaviour. John Moynihan, the son of the painter Rodrigo, went to the Ball of 1948. He
THE WHISTLER 7
chiming midnight, the cheers of the mob, the skirl of pipes, ^Auld Lang Syne', the crowd merging, locking together, lipspressed on lips,
the arrival of the absurd floats rolling awk wardly into the halt, the crowds breaking the barriers, fists explodingagaiitstjaws and stew ards rugby-tackling giggling drunks, squalls
of anger, women screaming, thefloats being smashed, a nude art student held aloft sud
denly falling into a twisted mass offighting bodies, screaming, her breasts losing their protective covering oftwinkling beads, rolling as she fell awkwardly into the mass, screams and shouts, the crowd coming on towards Fa
ther Neptune. A steward racedafter a youth, caught him by the trousers, tearing them al most of. lay on top of him bashing him. The
noise was hellish, the hallalmost torn apart; people surged into people, wood splintered,
floats were rippedup and the wreckage dragged across thefloor, destruction took top priority. Skulls smashed against skulls... ^Happy New Year,' I said to Keith. We shook hands."
These displays of aggression had not occurred in the pre-war days and stewards were in structed to be 'vigilant for any unseemliness or ruffianism or serious disorder. Tact and persuasion must be exercised to control the offending parties. They had to work hard to prevent anyone from climbingonto the centre
piece or the bandplatform, or interfering with the decorations. To clear a space for the stunts
the stewards circled the area with a sturdy
white rope, and they were advised 'in gaining this space good humour with firmness is of the greatest value.' Howeverin the euphoria of the midnightcelebrations there was always a rush to dismember the floats and this was when
problems occurred.
The Pressseized on any incidentsof rowdiness and the opinion soon formed that the Ball was no longer respectable. In order to promote
the Ball and to remedy this impression, Loris Rey brought in a public relations adviser, E.
ingpirates' garb,and eighteen Beefeaters from the Corps of Commissionaires. The exuberant
held on Friday 29 December. As in pre-war
audience could only take vengeance on the
the Chelsea Aits Balls on a Sunday and so it
balloons. At 1.45 a.m. the last float fi-om Croy-
don Art School appeared, a fifteen-foot-high Chinese pagoda carried by eight lusty lads with a scantily clothed girl student as a Sim Goddess. She held grimly on to her headdress and they were allowed to make a double cir
years there was strong opposition to holding was customary to avoid Saturday or Sunday
several hundred pounds of fresh salmon went
to prepare the suppers served by 200 wait resses in the boxes and gallery. At midnight a huge figure of 'Diana the Huntress', made by ColinCoifield, descended from the roof and the balloons camedown. A
nights. By comparison to the success of the previous Balls, this was avery subdued affair. thirty-foot-high canvas and plaster elephant, The Superintendent ofthe StJohn Ambulance Brigade, John Ownes, who had attended every Chelsea Arts BaU since 1912, said it was the
cuit of the floor without incident, but as soon
quietest and most orderly he had seen. We
as she dismounted her pagodawaswreckedby
have had only twelve people needing atten-
with an exuberant party of students on its
back, would not leave the dance floor. Time
and again Hammersmith School of Art stu dents triedto pushit through theexitdoor, but a tussle started which ended with the destruc tion of the great beast. The Ball was one of the most genuinely
enjoyable of all and was almost incident-free. By the mid 1950s the Chelsea Arts Ball was the most scandalous social event in the calen
dar, known for its colour, imagination, gaiety and sexual license. The press loved it, they photographed the preparations and the scant ily clad girls and they exaggerated its ex cesses to brighten the otherwise dull period of the holiday season.
Everyone who attended it retainedhis own memories. Laurie Lee, a long-time member of the Club, had his own romantic view of the Ball:
"It slipped in just before the so-called
permissiveage began, spoke toosoon and was slapped down by the authorities. Orgiastic floats used to come sailing round the ball room covered in girls from banks in cheap tulle from the Co-op, pretending to be slave girls, the floats pushed by fine-looking mus cled men. And at midnight a shower of bal loons came down from the dome which was a signal to rip the netting off the girls and carry themkicking and screaming to lay them in the
loggias... Perhaps our memories are wishfulfilling but I seem to remember everyoneas halfnaked."
For the year of the Coronation the theme was
'Happy and Glorious'. In spite of the unruly audience it was one of the most colourful
Balls. The huge backcloth, the work of A.R. Thomson, depicted in brilliant colours the lion and the unicom 'Fighting for the Crown'; high above the crowd, draped in crimson, were four Golden crowns. The fanciful medi
eval archway which occupied the centre ofthe dance floor came to life at midnight. The centre pirmacle, 45 feet above the crowd, rose upward to reveal a gilt and tinselled sculpture of a woman dressed as a queen. 400 perform ers took part in an entertainment produced by Loris Rey. With more materials now available, the
Lindsay Shankland, who tried to build upgen
the crowd. As the Ball ended William Lake,
eral interest by an intelligent plugging of sto
the Ball secretary, who had attended 23 previ
ries and pictures to the London and Home
ous Arts Balls, said 'this is the best-behaved
Counties Newspapers and the picture maga zines. Although space was still limited in the
crowd we have ever had. Everything went off like clockwork.'
national dailies, the Ball was always a good
pictorial subject and for days thenational press carried photographs of girls in costumes, stu dents preparing the floats, artists working on drawings for the Balland so forth. In 1949 the theme was 'Weather Cock'.
The stewards were preparedfor a repetition of the hooliganism of the previous year and no chances were taken, but it was not such a
rowdy party. RobertNewton was there in grey
tion, in previous years our first aid room has been packed with an overflow in the corridor.' As this was no longer a New Year's cel ebration only half the tickets were sold; as a consequence, for the first time in its this his tory, the Ball made a catastrophic loss. How
By 1950 all London was talking of the forth coming 'Festival of Britain' and with the theme 'The Crystal Festival' the Ball re-created the 1851 exhibition. A sumptuous backcloth of the Crystal Palace by A.R. Thomson domi
ever by the following year all appearance of
nated an entire side of the Hall, and the cos
der Bilibin in a church hall in Chelsea, armed
tumes and the tableaux were free adaptations of Victoriana. Girls dressed in wide-hooped skirts and bodices, except that the skirts were transparent and the bodices minimal.
with 36 bmshes and six hundredweight of
austerity had gone. The theme of the Ball was 'Huntin', Shootin' and Fishin' and the back-
cloth was more splendid than ever, designed by John Minton and soon painted by Alexan
paint.
Hounds andhuntsmen, dinosaursand fishes,
Hammersmith School of Art; constructed
a plenitude of mermaids and sea anemones paraded around the floodlit dance floor. John
an 'Emmett Railway' train carrying a bevy of
Minton invited a group of his friends and
young Victorians and current interest in flying saucers was shown by the St Martin's float
fellow teachers from theRoyal Collegeof Art, white linen suit, red and while spotted hand
hall in the midnightprocession, closelyguarded
'Global Visitors', with homed devils of both sexes. For the first time since the war. New
kerchief and a bandolier. Two tonsof chicken,
by rugby players from the 'Old Blues', wear-
Year's Eve fell on a Sunday, so the BaU was
50 York hams, half a ton of sirloin of beef and
flannels and a blue shirt topped by a tea-caddy; Ann Todd in a Spanish costume with her hus band, the film director David Lean; Frances
Day, Peggy Ashcroft and 'Two Ton Tessy O'Shea' as Bo-Peep. The floats were hauled rapidly round the
including Rodrigo Moynihan who danced in a
THE WHISTLER 8
Art Schools' tableaux were more splendid than any seen before. Leading the parade was a jaunty galleon with Nelson on the bridge accompanied by American seamen and Span ish contessas, made by students of the Baitlett School of Architecture. The craft was boarded
by raiders as it passed from the arena and largely demolished by the time it reached the exit.
The Architectural Association students ar
rived to the accompaniment of post-homs, in an Edwardian motor-car with a sportsman at its wheel and a suffiragette by his side. Hie Chelsea students, wearing outsizeheads, rep resented the characters from Alice in Wonder
land and a decorative tram-car was filled by
theHammersmith students. The press described it as therowdiest Arts Ballfor years. Despite a ring of white-jerseyed stewards, none of the tableaux was allowed to circuit the
floorbeforebeing smashedand whattheDaily
Mirror described as 'hand to dress fighting' broke out all over. 'One girl who had been wearing a strapless evening gown was soon wearing a gownless evening strap.' Stretcherbearers had to take away thecasualties.
of steam.
The theme for the Arts Bail of 1953 was Tun'.
Adrian Bury contributed a piece of poetry for the programme, as he did every year: Old Time is on the Wing Away, The year is nearly done, So Let Us Dance and Sing and Play, The last hours fill with FUN!
The decor was by John Minton and James Fitton and depicted a Venetian Carnival in which a multitude of renaissance figuresenjoy a great parade. It was set on a stage, the cur tains supported by caryatid figures. A stork in flight carried the newly bom year (but this time a painted baby, not a real one). In the hall,
TTie theme for 1957, 'Forty-Nine Candies', was intended to celebrate the anniversary of the first large-scale Ball held at Covent Gar den, 49 years before. The surrealist imagina tion of Gerard Hoffnung conjured up a me nagerie of grotesque musical animals, hang ing from the roof of the hall above the danc ers: a twisted centaur, an elephant ecstati cally blowing through its trombone trunk, lions beating their tummies as drums and a Sputnik tuber, all part of an outrageous or-
that felled the Balls, it was fmance. Immedi ately after the war the Balls had been finan cially successful. In 1946 it was found that all the expenses had increased; for example, pay ments to the Hall were about £9000, just about double what they had been before the war. But with tickets in great demand the income had also doubled, the Ball made a healthy profit and it was possible to hand over £1500 to the
Club. The next two years were similarly prof itable and each year £1250 was given to the Club. But in 1949 the profits dropped to just
there was a small profit, in others a loss, but on. only two occasions were dividends paid to the Club. All efforts to economize or to increase
the price of tickets were made, but this re-' suited in smaller attendances and the losses
continued. For the last four years, from 1954 to 1958, the Ball lost between £1000 and £2000 each year. Finally, with great reluctance, the decision was taken to suspend the Balls. Loris Rey gave a troubled interview in the Club in September 1958, after the decision had been taken not
revellers danced beneath clown-like faces and
other mobilessuspended finm a greatcarousel. This Ball was successfully filmed for tel evision and for British Movietone News. The •
TV cameramen, who were broadcasting live, found that they had to be very selective in their choice of subjects, as the appearance of some of the revellers was by no means suitable for family viewing. But the Ball had entered na
.
-
tional life.
All of the newspapers and press agencies sent reporters and photographers and even 'Mrs
Dale' went to the Ball in a script devised by Jonquil Anthony for 'Mrs Dale's Diary'. There
PI
were still those outbreaks that had marred other Balls. From the box that Minton was
sharing with the Moynihans and others, they saw a steward begin to beat up a reveller. One
t
V
f. i 7
of Minton's friends, Richard Chopping, went
t ' '
down to protest and was beaten in his turn; another friend, Norman Bowler went to help and received a kick in the face which broke his
jaw. He was taken to hospital by ambulance but was able to return to the Ball.
For the following year Ronald Searle called upon all of his powers ofinvention. The decor was even more sumptuous, on the theme 'The Seven Seas'. In a ghostly dance, weird sea monsters, giant spider crabs, mermsuds and octopuses swung slowly above the heads of the dancers, illuminated by multi-coloured lights, whilst a giant King Neptune held court
v..
with his mermaids in the centre of the sea-bed.
At midnight the First Battalion of the King's Own Scottish Borderers marched in with drums
and pipes playing and were given their usual great welcome. Because of the violence of previous years, no decorated floats were wheeled around the ballroom, but students
paraded in strange and varied costumes. At a time of reconstruction, in 1955, the theme
'Bow Bells' had a topical significance. Bow Bells had not rung since 1941, when they were destroyed by enemy action. The Lord Mayor of London was invited to the Ball as part of a fund-raising effort to replace the bells. In the centre of the floor was a thirty-foot model designed by A.R. Thomson in which four spirits, symbolizing London's re-emer
gence from war-timedestruction,rang thebells at his arrival. Again this was a noticeably quieter affair because the Ball took place on 30 December, not on New Year's Eve, and there was no midnight climax. Nor were floats used
because of the problems in previous years. However the Art Schools staged tableaux on London themes, 'Oranges and Lemons', 'Trafal
garSquare's Lions', 'Dolphins andPigeons' and 'GoonFish Porters'. Thegrimtheme "IhePlague' was chosen by Hammersmith School of Art.
Every effort wasnow being made to quell the riotous behaviour of the crowd. The theme
of the Ball for 1956 was 'Primavera', based on
Botticelli's painting of Spring, but the news papers called it 'the Rock and Roll Ball' be
cause to foil the drunken attempts to wreckthe tableaux, the orchestra immediately went into a Rock and Roll number. By now there was a distinct feeling that the Ball was running out
chestra conducted by a grotesque figure of Sir Malcolm Sargent. The last of the great New Year's Eve Balls to be held in the Albert Hall was in 1958. This
was still the period of theLondon 'pea-soupers' and on the night of the Ball, England was enveloped in a terrible fog. Public transport was brought almost to a standstill, flights were cancelled from abroad and those coming by road from any distance were considerably de layed. The hall appeared to be very empty. The theme was 'Golden Jubilation' and
Felix Topolski decorated the hall with charm ing and irreverent representations of wellknown personalities. Every attempt had been made to quieten the crowd, butit hardlyseemed necessary. There were no floats; instead stu
over £1000 and only £250 could be paid as a
to continue with the Chelsea Arts Balls at
dividend.
the Albert Hall. He was described by the
When the Ball was held on 29 December, in 1950, it was a financial disaster with a loss of £4464. In the years that followed it was a
interviewer as 'a stubble-chinned, Romannosed sculptor and conversationalist, like "GulleyJimson"inTheHorse'sMouth whom
battle to keep the Balls going. In some years
he strikingly resembles.'
ARTISTS and BOHEMIANS 100 YEARS WITH THE CHELSEAARTS CLUB
dents from the Art Schools wore bizarre cos
tumes which were paraded on a stage ten feet high, out of reach of the dancers and greased to prevent students from climbing up on it. But in spite of these precautions there were some fights, and at 3.45 a.m. someone let off an RAF smoke canister and the Albert Hall
was filled with sulphurous smoke. However it was neither nudity nor violence
This outstanding history of the ChelseaArts Club from
Tom Cross is published by Quillar Press at £20.00. Copies are available from the club office.
•
CHELSEA ARTS CLUB BALL NICK HUTCHINSON WORDS ROMER TOPHAM
THE CHELSEA ARTS BALL
Enterprising
I metyoung Simpsonat a Ball Abig one - at the AlbertHall
Oub Members Reprise
The sort of show where every guest Arrives elaborately dressed
Torepresent whatever beast
Great Balls oftbe Past
The CHELSEA Arts Ball
presents a daunting task for any producer contemplating
He thinks will incommode him least.
This fellow Simpson graced the Ball In scarcely any clothes at all Explaining to enquirers that
yourenjoyment at this year's Ball. The world famous Count Basie
If one decides to be a Rat The less one wears - above the waist
Orchestra will lead the proceedings
its revival. A history of excellence with guest singers asdiverse asElvis coupledwithscandal and past finan Costello and Shirley Bassey. Dave cial embarrassment would sound to
even the most daringtheatrical man ager a recipe for potential disaster. Alexander Sombart and I have
Thenearer to; 'well - sheer good taste'.
Gilmour of Pink Floyd fame and committee member, has put together a house band featuring some of the world's top session musicians. He
A fact which - view it as I might I could not but admit - was right.
not seen it this way. As members of has asked a number of friends to the Club, we had dways felt it to be come and sing with theband,equally a great pity that the Chelsea Arts Ball diverse acceptances sq far are Tom at the Royal Albert Hall took place Jones andMicha Paris.LudwigArts no more. We saw that to revive it in Management could not stage some its traditional form was not a viable
proposition. It had to be linked with Charity Work to guarantee a strong committee committed to make it
It must have been well after three
When suddenly I chanced to see The 'Rat' - (young Simpson) - take the floor
thing of this stature without asking its most famous artist, Maya
As partner to a 'Dinosaur'.
Plisetskaya, the formidable Russian ballerina - a legend in her own life time,who although in thetwilightof
Of whom the Rat was rather fond).
work. The cost ofproducing the event is enormous but if a guaranteed sell out could be achieved,charging fairly high prices for half the tickets, whilst keeping the other half at very afford able prices, there was a good chance
"Dying Swan". F^orthose who now groanandthink this sounds a little too serious, they need have no fear. The evening will
it would work.
culminate with a wild disco featur
(In fact a small peroxide blonde
her career still dances the definitive
Simpson (tbe Rat) was lookinggrand His rhythm melted with the band He rhumba-ed to the manner bom
And put us other chaps to scorn. Alas! Poor fellow! had he known The Fates had marked him For their own.
ing club member, Amanda Lear
Choosing an AIDS Charity to ben
backed by the Chippendales and
efit was not a difficult decision, in
some of the sexiest female dancers
a cure. It was our idea, along with that of the indefatigable fundraiser,
pletely free for use and the causes we
For suddenly two 'Elephants' Dmggedwith the beauty of the dance Carriedaway with 'joie de vivre' And possibly - 'un soupcon ivre'.
are seeking to raise money for. It is
Gyrating with tremendous force
Mrs Mark Littman, ofAIDS Crisis
our hope that members of the Club and general public who attend the
So steered their elephantine course They failed to see our fiiend - the 'Rat'
these days whereAIDS is becoming in town, choreographed by leading prevalent it is important that people pop choreographer Bruno Tonioli. All these artists are giving their do not attach stigma to the disease time,and moreover themselves,com and that every effort is made to find
Trust, that at least two grants for
recognised research work into aids Ball will make as much effort by be set up to receive funding they really giving a great deal of thought might otherwise lack. Announce to their costumes and really make ments for project submissions to a theAlbertHallafantastic visual spec leading panel of experts would be made in die Lancet and Nature Maga zine. The Club was also not to be for
gotten in our fiindraising activities; its invaluable role in providing the name and history behind the Ball will help to set up a new scholarship through the Chelsea Arts Club Trust. As agents and producers, we could also not just envisage a dance without some form ofentertainment.
We have been lucky in that through
The 'Dinosaur' was very sad To seehow flat he weis, poor lad
tacle on the night of October 11th. Those whohavemadethemostorigi nal and best effort will be amply rewarded by Alfred Dunhill with a superb watch for the best male cos
But finished off the rhumba with
A 'duckbilled Platypus' calledSmith. Anactwhich - view it as onemight Was, zoologically, right.
tume and a ÂŁ1,000 voucher from
Jasper Conran for the best female costume.
Romer Topham There are too many people to thank
London 1935
at the moment for their efforts on
our behalf, that will come later but the last mention should be to thank
committee, we have managed to as semble a very distinguished, ifsome
David Hockney for his magnifi cent gift to the ball and the adapta tion he made of it to makethe splen
what bizarre, mixture of artists for
did poster.
our own contacts and those of our
And rhumba-ed him completely flat.
'The Chelsea Arts Ball'was written byRomer Topham in 1935 when was a Barrister at Lincoln's Inn. Together with his wife he ran the Ebury Court Hotelfor some fiftyyears.
•
THE WHISTLER 10
diary JOHNNIE RUSKIN
A Rise in Standards Needed! ART, THESE days, has oft strayed sadly from its excellent Academical sources of my day. Where, pray, are the Turnersof yesteryear, the Leightons, the Rossettis, and those that remind us to be Good, yea. Moral painters, such as Holman Hunt?
Well, some modem approximations can be seen e'en now at exhibitions (to which, incidentally, I have never been invited) within the Chelsea Arts Club's very walls. I allude to exhibitions held in May and June, where Helen Roeder's wistful watercolours of East Anglia bear some comparison to drawings of my own, the abstracts of Terry
night, I knew not that a Woman could possess any such appurtenances. I doubt still that She should. Likewise, such indecorous swellings and furbelows cannot be possessed by Royalty, Male or Female of the Species. Indeed, 1deny it, as would my Own Sovereign, were she but alive. These Parts, moreover, were not observed from the Life, for how do they compare with the ones since photographed by the Yellow
Press (which, need it be said, I have not seen, relying, gentle readers, on your good selves to dig about in dirt.)
Frost and Albert Irvin are as luscious in mood and texture as Turner and our own Modem This, seriously, was not a good exhibition: not because of its subject matter (irreverence Painters. David Remfry's rich interiors and acute portraits are uniquely quirky. In short, is a fertile seed-bed for many a hilarious sketch) but because of its inartistic, crude all are Artist's artists. approach. The so-called artist,DonGrant,is unsubtle and, moreover, cannot draw.What basis is this for anyexhibition, much lessa humorous one? Cartoonists of excellence has Some of the Institutions of great importance in my day remain, tho' not, alas, receiving the Club aplenty. Let us ask them to amuseus.Pomographers, and otherMembers With the respect of yesteryear. I allude to The Hallowed Royal Academy, whose Summer No Manners should be shunned. Show was filled with works by Rank Outsiders, hung quite the Victorian way, without a sherry-label between them, by a young man called Peter Blake, who, so it seems,intends And so to otherlittle shows. Near a yearago,a CentenaryExhibition was heldat Covent
to undermine our serious intentions, replacing Portentousness with non-Academical Drolleries, including some DisrepectfulRoyal Portraits.This room and otherscontained the work of Members of this Club too nuinerous to list; let us say, three-scor-e and ten. On the subject of Royalty and disrespect, one exhibition in our own Corridor involved an unseemly (although we never at that time did guess how apposite) a display of Royal's Parts. I must confess that, until I saw my wife upon her wedding
Club Almoner Appointed
Garden of mixed members' Work. It was not a bad exhibition, as some have held; it was
a Respectable exhibition, which is perhaps worse. A Centenary Portfolio is now produced, of pleasant prints by youngish members of present and future Acclaim. And, last Autumn, the Editor of this Organ became curator of the Collyer-Bristow Gallery, showinga prodigious selection of WorksbyClubMembersand Others, to suitall tastes, • standard mainly high, prices not much so.
STOP PRESS LATE NEWS
Chelsea Arts Club Benevolent Fund • THE CHELSEA ARTS Club is concerned
about the welfare of Members who may be sicV., mcapacilale'l, or in similar difficulties. We would Uke to know of
any Members who may .y in hospital, \ confined to their homes due to illness or
other causes, or could only visit the Club if they were picked up by a Member or
provided with a free taxi. The Club and Council are serious in their wish to show their concern and to
help Members who are in such circumstances. To assist in this a small
"benevolent fund" has been established, and it is hoped that Members who would
Ifany Members who are not themselves sick or incapacitated but know of Members who are in such circumstances
please let the Club know about them, so that we can take a friendly interest and perhaps give the odd free limch and transport to the Club.
This is in no way intended to duplicate the work of the AGBI but is a way that the Club wishes to establish personal incapacitated, or in similar difficulties on a personal, friendly and caring basis. The Club's Almoner would also be
like to hear from the Club will contact the Club's Almoner - Bill Michael at the Club on 071 376 3311.
who have similar needs.
•
Concertante during breakfast and afterwards in the Bar (which opens especially early thanks to Management). • Real Ale from Young's will soon be piped into the Bar. As the Club is a free house the Management and council requests YOUR opinion on which other Real Ales to stock. Replies into the suggestion box please. Majority requests will be acted upon says Hugh Gilbert. • Them missing shove ha'penny table has become an issue - or rather, its disappearance has. Anybody knowing the whereabouts of this item of
historic Club property please inform the Council, or, if preferred, please drop a note into the Suggestions Box.
• Linda Sutton has contributed an illustration to a recent book of poems by Peter Johnson:ApnV Meeting. Linda's etching iscalled Venice Morning and appears reproduced as thefrontispiece. £6.50from Peterthrough Office or direct from Peter Johnson at 10 Oxbeny Avenue. London SW6 5SS.
CHESS FIXTURES 1992 -1993
Tuesdoy 6 October 92 Wednesday 14 October 92 Tuesday 17 November 92 Monday 14 December 92 Monday II January 93 Tuesday 26January 93
for a full breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, smoked haddock & etc) for £6.00 including Buck's Fizz. Musical accompaniment by the Vivaldi
contact with Members who are sick,
pleased to assist any Member who wishes to apply to the AGBI for serious financial help or for orphans of artists
1 DATE
Tom Northey announces the Bacon Breakfast is to be held in the
drawing room on October the 24th (Saturday am.) bookings are required
• ARTLA92: THE LOS ANGELES contemporary Art Fair is a mile stone in the artworld year. Held at the Convention Center in Downtown LA in early December,the Whistler has arranged access to a special exhibitor
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catalogue to the event; full access pass for each day of the wholeevent.For more details or to register, write to: Whistler, Chelsea Arts Club, 143 Old Church St. SW3.
THE WHISTLER 11
NEW TRUSTEE PATRICK HUGHES IS RENOWNED FOR HIS BITTER SWEET PAINTINGS AND SOPHISTICATED VISUAL HUMOUR, LESS WELL KNOWN IS HIS OUTSTANDING SKILLS WITH - AND COMPLETE COMMAND OF - LANGUAGE. HERE IS AN EXTRACT FROM HIS HIGHLY ENTERTAINING BOOK OF WORDS AND IDEAS; MORE ON OXYMORON
Modern Dancing is so Old Fashioned' 'Sam Goldwyn
Oxymoron is itself an oxymoron.
In AncientGreekoxusmeans"sharp"
and mores means "dull." Thus an
' oxymoron is a "sharp dullness." The terms are to be taken metaphorically: "sharp" as a meta phor for clever or wise, and "dull" as a meta phor for stupid or foolish. So oxymoron means "foolish wise" or "silly clever." It is the rhe torical figure in which two antithetical words are pitted against each other, adjective against noun, as in John Milton's living death, loud silence, or darkness visible.
When you consider the oxymoron you are also drawn to its opposite the PLEONASM, where the adjective agrees with the noun, as in wet water and widow woman. Then you con
sider these two terms amplified: the oxymoron extended turns into the CONTRADICTION
IN TERMS, and the extended pleonasm be comes the TAUTOLOGY. The generic name for these kinds of use of language and logic is the BULL, a word whose etymology is cloudy. One of the definitions of bull offered by the Oxford English Dictionary is "a
selfcontradictory proposition." Both SELFCONTRADICTION and a SELF-REFERENCE are here. I have found four more distinct themes
in bulls, which I have called OBVIOUS, FIG URE/GROUND REVERSAL, MIND AND MATTER, and NOTHING. The O.E.D. has another definition: "A ludi
crous inconsistency unperceived by the speaker." The bull has been called the Irish Bull in Britain, as if the colonized and (origi
nally) Gaelic-speaking Irish had a monopoly on this wise foolishness. They are oftencalled Polish jokes in the United States, after those
immigrants; all over the worldtheyhave been named after different groups at differentdmes. This is partly because those who are the buttof
thejoke are coming ft-esh to the language and using it broadly,withoutattending toany con tradictions or ambiguities in the use of idiom. It is also because the immigrants are seen as
having a novel approach to a problem, a re versal of the usual way of doing things: they are not hidebound.
Alice says, "What is the use of a book without
pictures?" Pictorial language has been much slower to be classified than its verbal equiva lent, perhaps because it hasonly recently been freed by photography from the restraint of merely reproducing the world.
The variety of example is important. We owe
THE WHISTLER 12
the word cosmopolitan to the Greek philoso
can fill in.
God... a gaseous vertebrate. (Ernst Haeckel)
pher Diogenes. It is an oxymoron, taken ftxjm cosmos ("the world") and poliias ("citizen")at a time when a citizen was expected to be a
Music: cathedrals in sound. (Alfred Brumeau)
To define God is difficult. Haeckel compares
citizen of a city-state, not the whole world. I
Brumeau, faced with the enormityof defining
minds - with his vertebrate nature - a father-
democratic variety... shows that this way of
music, looks to the so solid and silent cathe drals for contrast with invisible sound. Con-
figure with a beard and robes who sits on a
understanding is widespread. As a child I was always dismayed by adult adulation of "com
stmction and imagination and devotion are in
guessing game "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral"
common. Architecture is frozen music
here.
(Goethe). Water is temporarily frozen, often in tremendous natural pattems and shapes,
In seeking to describe people, those vari ous and maddening folk, people have often resorted to the oxymoron. Oscar Wilde re marked of someone: He hadn't a single re deeming vice. The usual phrase is: "He hasn't a single redeeming virtue." In Wilde's oxymoron, redemption and vice, opposite ends
believe that the geographical, historical, and
mon sense." It seems to me self-evident that
the way of thinking displayed in these bulls is valid. When we smile at a joke or grin at a witticism, we are seeing a truth. I am obvi ously drawn to these kinds of remarks, and find them more accurate and realistic apprais als of the nature of reality than orthodox logic and language, where adjectives describe nouns, where the figure stands out clearly from the ground, where nothing is left to chance... (I
his gassy nature - an ethereal thought in men's
chair in the clouds. There is a hint of the
revealing mathematical structures, whereas music runs like water, never repeating itself exactly. Ice is quiet and is often perceived in, say, the silence of winter in the woods. Goethe's
antithesis of frost and organizedsound illumi-
''
•
wooden tree that has come to be a stone tree.
Stone is dead and cold and hard, while wood is
aliveand warmandsofter. To my mind, one of the reasons we prize fossils - apart from the information theygive usofgrowth goneby- is that they are oxymoronic. Living plants and animals are made by natural forces into their own contradictions. Stone lies at the other end
of the scale to organic growth.
The artist Anthony Eamshaw found half of a stone on heathland and noticed that it looked
very much like half a loaf of bread. He put it on a breadboard with a knife. This is an
oxymoron first of accident- the stone does by chance very much resemble bread in colour and size and visual texture and shape; then of perception - Eamshaw saw this resemblance; and finally of design - the artist put the stone on the board with the knife in the bread con
text. The staff of life is at the other end of the
spectrum of sustenance to stone. Eamshaw calls the piece Raider's Bread and adds "the smash- and-grab raider eats a hearty breakfast before setting off to work."
My wife has a whim of iron. (Oliver Herford) This ploy is a poignant one. Iron and whim are
poles apart. The hidden parallel with"a willof iron" shows that she is indeed a mler. If her whim is so hard, what would her will be like?
I have a childhood memory of construction sites where paper bags of concrete had been left to get wet and had solidified in the shape of the bag. Bags contain and conceal, can be used again and again, are adjustable to their contents and fold up; they are light and empty. This bag is just the reverse: it cannot contain or conceal, it shows itself, it is not adjustable
That is as clear as mud. (R H Barham)
Will and whim are opposites, as are, say, iron and feathers. A simile could be "My wife has whims like falling feathers"; like is com
pared with like. In oxymoron, like is com pared with unlike, and the comparison, un likely though it is, holds a wealth of mean ing. When it is said that the adjective contra
or foldable, it is very heavy and entirely full. This accidental oxymoron makes the thing "bag" out of a diametrically opposed "con crete" material.
dicts the noun, it must be emphasized that
JACK 1982 H.C.Westermann
these are deliberate oppositions along the
Sculpture, before the invention of abstract art, meant the representation of things in different
same continuum. The terms in opposition are like themselves in that they are other,
opposite aspects of the same thing. Milton's No light, but rather darkness visible con
natesthe permanent anddecorative artofbuild ing. It is a magical idea that overnight a frost
tains the idea of visible darkness, darkness that can be seen. But darkness and light are
could still and silence music into monochro
of the scale of divine judgment, are yoked. The writer clearly felt that this was a person so
frightfully virtuous that at least a single vice would make him more human. -
matic architecture.
Painting is silentpoetry, poetry is painting that speaks. (Simonides of Ceos)
words in 1885 were: I see the black light!
Simonides seems to be saying that poetry is
more than painting; it is painting (which is silent) plus sound, whereas painting is like poetry but without theingredient ofsound. On the other hand, his oxymorons of silent poetry
dark. In the Bible in the Book of Isaiah,
andspeaking painting arepoignant: ifpainting
chapter Ivii, verse lO, we find The Darkness
is silent poetry it is pure poetry - the essence,
In attempting to define large areas, the
made of manufactured objects and other mate rial, and natural things. In the visual realm there are real things that
actions of the waves of water on the sand has been to create a visual oxymoron. Trees are made of wood. The fossil tree is a
.-i;
The opposite of the pleonasm is the oxymoron. In the pleonasm the adjective repeats the noun, in the oxymoron the adjective contradicts the noun. In a simile, Robert Bums said, "My love is like a red, red rose," finding qualities of beauty, colour, and freshness in common berween the love and the rose. Oxymoronically you go further, not to a comparison but to an antithesis, forcing the mind to run the gamut of an axis of meaning in seeking some vehe mence of expression:
shall be as the noon-day.
the human mentality: what I call the visual world includes pictures and sculptures, objects
they are trapped in time. The essence of wa tery waves is theirslippery translucent malle ability - here they are stilled and solid. The
A common view of humour is that it is too
There is blacklight in the Professor's lecture in Lewis Carroll's Sylvie and Bruno; dark ness light in Christian Morgenstem; and Samson'sfirst soliloquyin Milton's "Samson Agonistes' includes the line The sun to meis
tween the verbal world and the visual world.
The verbal world is entirely a construction of
arevisualoxymorons untouched byman's hand (except in his perception). Consider... a sight
light and elusive to write about. The argument is, here are amusements; do not weigh them down with weighty explanations. I take the view that here are profundities - how difficult to unravel them and still retain their meaning. It is like a book of poems "explained" in prose. The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein said, "A serious work in philosophy could be writ ten that consisted entirely of jokes.
aredifferent aspects of visibility. This theme in oxymoron is strong: Victor Hugo's last
In the visual version of oxymoron, the mate rial of which a thing is made (or appears to be made) takes the place of the adjective, and the thing itself (or thing represented) takes the place of the noun. There is a difference be
often seen on beaches - waves made of sand. The essence of waves is their movement, here
find Chomskyite linguistics and Barthesian structuralism disappointing.) Moliere's bour geois gentilhomme was delighted to learn that "for more than forty years I have been speak ing prose without knowing it."
the furthest ends of the same spectrum; they
have been deceiving herself about the nature of the poet.
not the mere disturbance, of the airwaves. And
painting thatspeaks, which we now have inthe movies, must have seemed an unthinkably bril
oxymoron is useful because it sets up two
liant and lifelike achievement to the ancient
poles of meaning between which the reader
Greeks.
I do not know upon what subject he will next employ his versatile incapacity (A. E. Housman). Housman's judgment is that for someone incapable a willingness to embark upon new subjects shows versatility but is obviously unproductive. Incapacity, a negative ability, is versatile in that it can be employed upon any subject with very poor results. Christopher Hassall remarked of Dame Edith Sitwell: She's genuinely bogus. Hassall pits "genuine" against "bogus," complete an tonyms. The implication is that there are other people who are bogus boguses, fraudulent
materials. Sometimes transient materials such
as ice or cheese orsand have been used. Topi ary is a folk art, the trimming of hedges and bushes intothe shape of things. Anexample is found in Chepstow, Wales: an ocean liner
made of leaves and twigs, the ship that needs to be regularly cut back, opposes the massive opaque clanging structure of the real boat to the green, living, open leafy structure of the bush.
The usual material for sculpture hasbeen stone, and the usual subject, people. The Mount
Rushmore National Memorial is a halfway house between stone and sculpture. The scale and nature of the mountain out of which the
presidents have been made necessarily left
frauds. Sitwell is a real fraud. She meant to be
the raw material showing. So we see rock
as consciously a poetess as she was; she did not hope to deceive others, though she may
people and rock itself. The scale of the men
THE WHISTLER 13
and their place at the top of the mountain
make them like gods. Natural people are made of flesh and blood: soft, living, chang ing materials.
ing flowers are meant to point up the fact of life blooming and then withering, while these flowers remain in bloom longer than human life.
Sculpture has to do with life and death. To
The stone angel has stone wings that can not fly; a stone book in the cemetery at St. Ives which lies forever open at the page of Alexan der Taylor (1917-1959), denies the nature of
make a person out of a more permanentmate rial is to keep him alive longer. Madame Taussaud's waxworks museum in London,
accident and that he wanted to make a head
stone for his grave." Ian Hamilton Finlay's Marble Paper Boat takes the child's boat made of folded paper and re-presents it in marble, the hallowed stone
of sculpture. Finlay's boat floats on a sche matic sea of stone. In reality it would sink like a stone to the bottom of the pond. Some of the parameters in visual oxymoron are living and dead - the ceramic flowers, the fossil log, the liner made of leaves. This theme of lightness and weight is another. In a scene in Buster Keaton's film The Boat, Keaton throws his anchor overboard into the
sea and it floats. Tony Blundell has drawn the scene. In the same movie Keaton throws a lifebelt into the sea and it sinks. This is not so
potenta scene, as yousomehowexpecta lifebelt to sink. Lots of things sink; to our disappoint ment, few things float. There is a carved stone
step up on stage and hold the wand with which he has been making magic. To the consterna
tionof the child, the wandfalls limp, the author [Hughes] himself experienced this as a child. This antithesis between soft and hard materi
als must be informed by our childish percep tion of our own bodies and those of others. Parents have hard and soft bits, and we have
flesh and bone and muscle. Perhaps the seem ingly magical erection and detumescence of the male member is also perceived as this antithesis. Salvador Dali's The Persistence of Memory depicts soft watches. The structured, firm, regular nature of the object is contra dicted by the sloppy, drooping, limp quality of the material. It has been said he was inspired by the sight of children's sugar watches in a candy-store window. The American sculptor Claes Oldenburg has made a number of sculptures in vinyl and
MARBLE PAPER BOATIan Hamilton Finlay
which began by recording the beheaded aris tocracy of the French Revolution in wax, then the most lifelike, fleshy, and translucent sub stance available, is an attempt to defy death. There are some things thai are radically changed in nature. One terrible change is death. In the case of human beings the material goes cold, stiff, green, rots, falls off. Plants wither, go brown, disappear. Perhaps a main motive for making visual oxymorons is the perception of these changes, and a desire to create some thing that denies the inevitable.
books. Books are full of information in se
quence, but this one denies us access to any other information. The open book is a closed book.
H. C. Westermann's Jack is a jack o' lan tern, which is usually made from a hoUowedout pumpkin; here it is made from a granite boulder. Pumpkin is pretty soft; granite is par ticularly hard. To quote the art critic Barbara Haskell: "He drew a face on it and took it to an
old Connecticut tombstone carver to have the features sandblasted. He convinced the man to
make it by telling him that a friend of his by Cemeteries today are full of visual oxymorons on the subject of death. The ceramic everlast-
the name of Jack Lantern, a member of the
Hell's Angels, had been killed in a motorcycle ON REFLECTION: ST. IVES BA YPatrick Hughes
I
lifebelt in the churchyard of St. Ives, a fishing village. In Keaton's anchor scene, part of the fun lies in the play between appearance and reality - the anchor looks like an anchor, but it per forms like a lifebelt.
Marcel Duchamp's Why Not Sneeze, Rose Selavy? is a small birdcage filled with what appear to be sugar cubes. Duchamp noticed that sugar cubes resemble marble, and he had
FLOATING SI/GAR photo: Lawrence Lawry
kapok, using the technology of the soft toy, which repeat Dali's image in three dimen sions. His Ghost Drum Set lies limp, with limp cymbals, limp drumsticks, limp skins. Oldenburg has spoken of his sculpture as be ing like his body. Oldenburg's other "soft ma chines" include a soft typewriter, soft scissors, a soft toilet, and a soft telephone.
marble cut and finished to the same size and
Man Ray's What We All Lack is an object that also presents liquid as a solid. He took a bub ble pipe and stuck a Christmas ball on the
texture as sugar. The handle invites the viewer
bowl. Instead of a transitory bubble, we have a
to feel the difference between what he sees as
permanentbauble. Both bubble and bauble are made by inflating a drop of liquid; the differ ence is that soapy water bursts, whereas glass keeps its globular shape forever. Ray's piece memorializes the moment of childish joy. Patrick Hughes's On Reflection: St. Ives Bay takes the illusory to be real. The reflec tions of the toy boats are as real as the boats: they are the same boats from the same toyshop. This is another theme in oxymoron:
sugar and lifts as marble. Duchamp called this piece a "visual pun"; I think it is a visual illusion and an oxymoron. Joke sugar lumps are a contemporary nov elty made of plastic foam. Defying gravity, they float on the surface of the hot drink. Duchamp's sugar is heavier than sugar; this sugar is lighter than sugar. A further theme in visual oxymoron is ri gidity and softness. A practical joke is to give someone a rubber pencil when he or she wants to make a note of something. The pencil bends in the hand as it presses on the paper. Expecta tions are dashed. You feel a fool with this limp pencil. A magician sometimes invites children to
THE WHISTLER 14
real illusion.
•
Patrick Hughes' More on Oxymoron is pub lished by Cape at £8.95. For members of the Club it is possible that a limited number of
signed copies can be made available • writ ten requests to P.H. via office.
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FIRST IMPRESSIONS GORDON ROOKLEDGE
The Peculiar Art of the Art Book Myinterestin publishingbegan in 1962 many years before I
launched Sarema Press. Robert
Nicholson the artist, designer and publisher of London books and a close friend of many
GORDON ROOKLEDGE
OFFERS A PERSONAL VIEW OF THE WORLD OF ART BOOK
PUBLISHING WHICH
years asked me to write a small section of the first of his many London Guides. I contributed to Eating Cheaply in London and part of the Children's Playground section. I also as sisted, albeit in a very small way, on his first
FOR THE SUBJECT
AND READER, BUT...
plants!
I spent the next few months with my compa ny's "in house" designer. We gradually
title in the Canal Guide series. I loved it. In
worked on this core idea and then, at the
fact I copied part of the title of the Nicholson's Street Finder when I produced my book on type identifying by calling it Rookledges's International Typefinder. 1 think he forgave me.
suggestion of my fhend from the RCA, Pro fessor Herbert Spencer, called in Bruce Brown a young designer who had been a student of mine and was now on the teaching staff. Brown was a great help and cut away some of our clutter. The book was gradually taking shape. After about a year this de signer was appointed Head of Graphics at
Sarema Press's list reflects my own
enthusiasms: typography and fine art. Through running my own printing company I had close contact with both fields and this
MIGHT BE REWARDING
was a need for a book which would identify
typefaces by a process of elimination. The reader would begin by selecting from broad categories and eventually be guided to a single correctly identified specimen. I'd seen something similar done in a book on house
nurtured a strong interest in both areas. 1 can't say I've found publishing financially rewarding and there are certainly pitfalls but it has been enormously satisfying and I'm certainly proud of the books I've produced. Rookledge's International Typefinder: the essential handbook of typeface recognition and selection. (ÂŁ30 cb ISBN 1 870758 03 X). The Typefinder was my first serious step into publishing. I was then working as a tutor in print production at the Royal Col lege of Art. In 1979, a student asked me to identify a particularly unusual typeface. A laborious job, especially as the RCA had so few type founders' catalogues to use and compare (they had often been borrowed and not returned). It occurred to me that there
THE WHISTLER 16
Norwich and asked to be relieved of his commitment.
1 had been talking to other publishers and
they all sounded keen to take the book but took so long to confirm this in writing that I started to panic in case the idea would be poached. My Bank Manager promised he would advance the money if 1 published on my own. I chose Sarema Press as my im print, an amalgam of my two daughters names, Sarah and Emma.
I still had to face the problem of finding another good designer. I made the mistake of taking one on without a formal contract, something I was later to regret since dis
putes between us over copyright ended in litigation in the High Court. Despite this sad note, seeing this first publication in print still managed to be one of the happiest mo-
ments of my life.
Along standing friend, Brian Thompson co-founder of Quartet Books was part of the team and he helped us keep the litigation in perspective and get the book published and sold. The Typefinder established itself as a standard reference book. It was published in the United States as well as in Britain, and
has sold throughout the world. An updated andexpanded version was published in 1990
with a companion volume, Rookledge's Handbook of Type Designers, coming out the following year.
can publisher with theirAmerican imprint and
logo onjacket and prelims. The title was soon out of print.
Therewere constant enquiries forthis book even years after it was out of print. In 1990
this, plus a large order from Germany made me decide to change the cover, which I felt
had dated, and reprint. I felt less cheerful when, within three months of delivery the payments began to dry up and I learnt that the
German firm (who also had some ofmy other titles) had gone bust. To compound the prob lem theirBerlin warehouse began demanding payment from me for many months storage
Victorian Pop-up Greeting Cards. (£15 per set of seven styles). My second publishing
charges. A lesson here somewhere.
project came about through an offer of the print buyer at the Victorian & Albert Mu seum. He wanted my printing company to quote for printing facsimiles of well over a
Design BriefMagazine(Monthly) Thiswasa collection of three or four sheets of A4paper, photo stat'ed and published by The Observer
dozen styles of Victorian pop-up greeting
Barty Phillips. My printing company, Gavin Martin Ltd did the typesetting until I was
cards. The designs were beautiful but intri
cate. Other printers had come in with very high unit costs, my company were no excep tion.
The V&A could not afford to print or publishthem but I was convinced they would sell well. The museum accepted my offer to publish the cards myself and after getting permission, the appointed paper engineer broke open the original cards to do "glue point nesting sheets" for the photographer, plate-maker, printer and assembler. Within six months the cards were ready and were being sold by shops and organisa tions to coincide with an exhibition on the
newspaper. It was the idea of its design editor,
sadly told by the Observer that it was to cease.
I approached Bartyconcerning Sarema pub lishing it as a magazine. Enthusiastically she arranged for me to have a meeting with a couple of the Observer directors in the Conor
Cruise O'Brien room at their headquarters opposite Blackfnars Station. Strangely enough, over many years in print ing and publishing I have had a warm, close and friendly relationship with the people I have dealt with at the Observer, but this lunch
time meeting with the directors was not a very friendly one, had it not been for Barty I would have told them to forget the deal, but having
life of Prince Albert.
said that, I did walk out at the end with the
I had asked the young astute buyer at the V&A if the Museum wanted royalties or to purchase the cards at cost price. My ac countant had told me to try and get him to accept royalties, he chose a cost price/ I agreed to this if he would buy a large quan tity, he said yes and we both got a bargain. Since 1984 they have been a constant good seller but the price has slowly increased,
project and taking Barty with me as the editor. I published 1500 to 2000 copies each month and mailed out to those on the Observer list
that Early could remember (the Observer said the mailing list was not part of the deal). I also mailed out to my printing company' s list. Barty worked very hard to get it off the ground in its new format of 16 pages, A4, in two colours
keeping the margins very keen. Most of the high costs are caused by
throughout and no advertising. To keep the
paper engineering and origination and also the exchange rate, as they are produced in the Far East, but they sell worldwide in good numbers at a very keen retailprice of just over
costs down we used students from the Royal
College of Artwhowere kind enough towork for a competitive fee providing they had theirname in the magazine.
£2 each when the set of seven are purchased.
Two former students who now ran their own
InJanuary they go up to £17.50 per set.
design group did the lay-outs, paste-up and art work. Copy was suppliedto theeditoror direct to
The Male Nude - A Modern View: Edward Lucie-Smith & Francois de Louville. (£30 cb ISBN 1 870758 10 2). The third project
Sarema and one of my daughters assisted Barty to co-ordinate it. At one stage, 1 remember my son, who was at Brighton Art college, helped with some of the aitwoik. The magazine was an enormous success, if not financially, certainly emotionally. Again a good team. After the trial period of twelve issues I decided to close it down.
also began when I was at the RCA, an illus tration student. Rod Judkins, had seen an
exhibition at the Ebury Gallery behindChel sea Barracks. He said it was closing in a week, so I should hurry.
I went that evening on myway home, and with a printer's eye asked the curator, why no printed catalogue, only a photostat of
The Self Portrait: A Modern View: Edward Lucie Smith, Sean Kelly (£30 hb ISBN 1
titles and prices? He said it was too expen
Lucie Smith phonedandasked me to join him and the curator of Bath's Artsite Gallery for lunch at his new townhouse behind Olympia. They both had an idea of producing an
870758 00 5) One fine afternoon in 1986 Ted
sive. Consequently, with a publisher's eye I asked him if I could publish a catalogue of the work of the fifty artists.
A meeting was arranged with Edward
exhibition similar to the Male Nude with some
Lucie-Smith, one of the main collaborators and who was on the selection committee and
of Britain's exciting contemporary painters contributing self portraits. This time it was to
costings were produced. He and his colleague
be a touringexhibition. Theideasoundedgreat
had agreed to write the introduction and for ward. Royalties could only be paid to the
and one year later the book was published. It began with a general introduction on the history of self-portraiture. Each self-portrait appeared with a photograph of the artist. The
writers, as the book was a catalogue promot ing the artists' work.
The curator hadanundertaking from those
Observer did a feature on the exhibition in the
artists that they would waive their rights or
colour supplement which helped sales. The book took off quite well at fir^t, but after a
Royalties which then made it possible for the
year sales started to dwindle. In 1990 I took copiesto the Frankfurt Book Fairand was able
book to be sensibly priced.
In 1985 Saiema printed ten thousand copies of
the Male Nude, ofwhich five thousand went to Phaidon Press, with their imprint and ogo an Phaidon in turn sold five thousand toan Amen-
Above: the author, Gordon Rookledge.
Top right: SelfPortrait. A Modern View.
THE WHISTLER 17
to sell a number to the German company, and later in 1992 with their bankruptcy, and stor
age charges accruing I had to make a rapid
flight to Los Angeles to the American Book
Fair to offload the books quickly, this I was
able to do with other titles that were locked up by the liquidator.
In order to pay the warehouse for storage for these six books and to pay the printer the costs ofthe reprints ofthe titles they ordered I
had to get a large loan from the Bank. They have my seaside cottage ascollateral and with the recession in the Book Trade it looks as though I might loseour delightful family "bolt-
take all four of us and be there and back in
the same day, giving ample time to work and study. We met at 8.30am on a very hot day in June and within minutes we were on our way to Falmouth. Helicopter flying seems so casual and informal, the pilot asked us if there was any particular route we would like to take? Was there any particular building we needed to see en route? The journey was fantastic, blue skies all day and 80 degrees
photographed for reference, captions had been written. While we all had a good lunch the pilot had had a good swim in one of the better Hotel's open air pool. We left at 5pm, and I was driving through London's tail end of rush hour a couple of hours later, having had a productiveday. Great value for money. A friend of mine became the co author as
Kate Dinn could not spare the time to do the enormous amount of research required. The
Henry Scott-Tuke 1858-1929: Under Canvas. (£39.95 hb
ISBN. 1 870758 02 1) Inthefinancially happy days of 1985,1 visited,
with my wife, the pri view
of
as a writer and assistant, was collecting in formation for a revised edition of the
Typefinder, she explained the slow progress by pointing out the time it was taking to go through so many different books to get infor
mation on typeface designers. It was then I decided I must publish a handbook of type designers in one vol ume, again I had to get the team together. Working from home with just my wife as an assistant cum secretary was difficult. My print ing Company had been sold in February 1991.
hole".
vate
Type Designers: a biographical directory. (£25 hb ISBN 1 870758 09 9) Whilst ray daughter, who was working for the company
I had retired, I could
the
now work exclusively on publishing.
Newlyn School exhibi tion at the Barbican in
Ron Eason, a writer
London. A number of artists whose work was exhibited had had
and a long standing friend of mine of over
twenty years standing, agreed to be a co-author with my daughter (who
books published about them by some of the big art book publish
had been an enormous
ers, but when I looked
for information about
help on other projects). Phil Baines, a former
Henry Scott Tuke I found there was only a
RCA student whose work I had admired at
monograph by his sis ter published in 1933
and who was recom
his degree show in 1989
and now long out of print. As well as being a portraitist, Tuke was a painter of boats, beaches
and
mended to me by Harry Greenaway (mysponsor at the Chelsea Arts
Club), was selected as the designer and joint editor with myself as part time editor. The
the
fisherboys working in Falmouth. He was an
four of us were able to
early exponent of "plein air" naturalism
get the book out within eighteen months from its conception.
and interested me, as
in 1949 at the age of
The hardback is be
ing sold in Europe and
fifteen, I had seen his
painting Ruby Gold and
America and work is in
Malachite (1901) at the Guildhall in the City of
hand for an American
Spring of 1985 at the
paperback version. In some ways it's not a good time to be in publishing. Some plans have had to be put on ice until the fi
Barbican.
nancial situation im
A publication in four years time would
proves or have col lapsed through lack of
coincide with the sixti
funds or lack of inter
London. I had not seen
*
his work since, nor even heard his name till
that evening in the
eth anniversary of his
est by overseas publish
death. Authors had to
ers.
be found, illustrations
slipped through my fin gers to a more profes sional publisher. De spite this it has been a very stimulating and challenging time. I have met interesting people and ended up
and paintings had to be located, and an exhibi tion of his work ar
ranged to coincide with the publication of the book.
I heard one day that
Others
have
with some marvellous
there was an exhibition of Tuke's work in Falmouth due to end in
big projects planned
a couple of days. It was
now which I think will
new friends. I have two
be revolutionary in
a must that we see all
the work prior to it being dismantled and dispersed, some of it to secretive homes.
in the shade. My daughter came with us as an assistant and makeweight for the spare seat.
I arranged with a designer, a photographer, and a writer to see the work but they all needed at least a day to look at the paintings,
a large collection all under one roof at the same time. The train journey takes about a
day there and almost a day back to London. A full day would be needed at the Gallery. To cut time I approached thelocalhelicopter base on the Thames at Battersea. They could
Within two hours or so we were being met by the Harbour master of Falmouth in his Sunday best uniform, scrambled egg on his peaked cap too! We felt like Royalty. By the end of the day an agreement had been made for Kate Dinn, curator of the Falmouth City Art Gallery to be one of the authors, the designer had been briefed and had plans for the book, the pictures had been selected and
authors worked so well together and with the designer and photographer, again another happy team on this now third project. What a shame my first book did not have all those happy personalities, although this made me appreciate every other publishing project which the different teams said how much they had enjoyed. I alwayskept one member of the team to
For any Chelsea Arts Club member 33.3% off for any Qub member wishing to purchase a copy of any Sarema book, just send a cheque to
their field. With these two will come a cou
ple of disasters of course, but then that is publishing. The projects that did not take off of course could be a book in their own right.
assist on the next in order to maintain a certain
me at Sarema Press (I^iblishers) Ltd. to that value
amount of continuity.
BUT ADD £3 for postage and packing. Sarema
Rookledge's International Handbook of
Press (Publishers) Ltd. IS Beeches Walk. Carshabon, Surr^ SMS 4JS
THE WHISTLER 18
100
OF THE CHELSEA ARTS CLUB >.
.rt-
"Not only a terrific history of the infamous Chelsea artist's
retreat, but an impressive and
oblique work of art history. Tom Cross has produced an objective and focussed document on a venerable institution often
4 Arc
misrepresented by myth, rumour and scandal." Charles Kane Artbooknews
. •/
Contains many archive photographs
BY
TOM CROSS Published by the Quillar Press at ÂŁ20.00.
Copies are available from the Club Office. Warmly recommended by tbe editor of The Whistler and the Chairman.
REPORTS King GM, as well as Murray Chandler GM and Raymond Keene GM. The grandmasters didn't, in case your wondering, take part in
CHESS BARRY MARTIN
Board News
the simultaneous match!
of honour.
John's relationship with chess resulted in the highly evocative work entitled
'Reunion' 1968, which was
performed at the Ryerson Lastly, on a sad note 1 record
Theatre, Toronto. The chess board was cormected to
electronic amplification systems which registered
The 1991-1992 chess season ended with the CAC
sounds when each mover
positioned mid-way in the
clubs were distinctly worse
played against Marcel Duchamp (1887-1969) with whom he had become a good friend. He regularly played agaist Marcel although Raymond Keene GM tells
off than ourselves. The
me that John had
trophy was jointly shared by
considerably improved his chess-play the last time Raymond played with him.
league table. This was better than one might have hoped for given some disappointing results, but as usual some
the RAC and Atheneum
Clubs, whilst we finished ahead of the Savile, Brooks, East India and the Travellers Clubs.
were drawn from the
following; Peter Aylett, David Cohen, Joe Coles, Matthew Flowers,
Grahame Fowler, Hilary Chittendon, Tony Gros, Phyllis Gorlick King, Barry Martin, Mike RadcIifTe, Frank Ormonde, Struan Rodger. If any club member would like to play for our team please contact me at the club.
The forthcoming season's fixtures are given below. Cheerleaders and supporters are most welcome.
A recent simultaneous match
against Murray Chandler
Chelsea Arts Club.
was made on the board. John
Hamilton-Russell Cup
Congratulations to our players the teams of which
John Cage at the 'Art andChess'dinner IPJanuary 199]
Simultaneous match againstMurray ChandlerCM. from leftto right: MikeRadcliffe, Mrs.Chandler, Hilary Chittendon, Phyllis Gorlick King, Barry Mortin, Murray Chandler GM (looking slightly compressedj, Ben Hooberman, Joe Coles. GM, (21st. July) resulted in a fairly clean sweep for him, although Murray commented very favourably on Mike RadcJifTe's game following
very convincing for Mike up until the mid-way point. Thanks to Murray for his time and expertise, it was a
John Nunn GM, Jon Speelman GM, Daniel the passing away of John Cage (b. 5th September 1912-d. 12th August 1992). He distinguished our club with his presence, along with Teeny Duchamp (the wife of the late Marcel Duchamp) as special guests of honour
memorable event.
on 19/2/1991. The dinner was
The evening was marked also by having nearly threequarters of the English Olympic team in attendance,
concluded the hugely successful day of Art and Chess at the Tate Gallery to which they were also guests
the event. This was looking
held in their honour and
John was an extremely unassuming person which was a charming characteristic in the light of the huge accolade given to
BRIDGE JOHN PURCEli
ABridge Too Far? Whilst working on the paper requirements for the Centenary Portfolio, I am visiting Hugh's flat with a papwr sample and interrupt a meeting discussing the content of the next issue of
which a club can develop and enjoy a Bridge section. The possibilities include for instance, social rubber
bridge for modest slakes, pairs tournaments, knockout teams of four comperiti'ons, matches against other clubs
him in the '50s and '60s for
The Whistler. In between
his avant-garde music. His 'Imaginary Landscapes' first started in 1939, in Imaginary Landscape I there were the beginnings of the first
calls for blue, black, green, yellow, cream, 90gsm and 160gsm being various views of colour and weight of
(either teams of four or
paper, conversation turns to
com^tition for non Bridge
electronic music and scores
the Club's penchant for chess and the corresponding lack of airing of the wonderful game of Bridge.
clubs (e.g. Arts Clubs, tennis clubs, golf clubs, WRVS or
to be undertaken anywhere. His notorious 4'iJ" (1952) consisted of that length of time in silence. It was in
three movements during which the pianist sits with the piano playing naught for that length of time. Although the piece was in silence the public response was a huge roar of noise both for and
a whole section of Club
members with unsated
appetites for the green baize who need a catalyst. If this is
against. John was very quiet
true, then I have undertaken
to be the catalytic converter and I sincerely hope that there is a healthy response to
way with more than a hint of irony about life buried in their implications.
a few. There is a well
organised national teams
who ever) which was
inaugurated by Terence Reese. I also have no doubt
It appears that there is a history of Bridge at the Qub and that there might well be
of voice and used words in a
succinct and often humorous
teams of eight), to name but
that existing members own social contacts with other
clubs would create some
good matches. I personally could kick this off by inviting a team from the Treasury! A general note to me, John Purcell, at the Club
this call to cards.
expressing interest in taking further the idea of Bridge as a Club activity would be
There are many ways in
most welcome, a
His collected notes
published in Silence, started 1961, perhaps convey his intentions particularly well especially as culled by his interests in Eastern
philosophy. The following short extract says much: "to affirm this life, not to bring order out of chaos or to suggest improvements in
0
creation, but simply to wake up to the very life we're living, which is so excellent once one gets one's mind and one's
Grandmasters at Dinner, from left to right: Raymond Keene GM (with C.C.Cap), John Nunn GM, Jon Speelman GM, Mrs. Spee/mon, Murray Chandler.
desires out of the way, and let it act of its own accord." #
THE WHISTLER 20
Establishing a Bridge Club at Old Church Street
/management report OLD WIVE'S TALES
ApartfromMercury,faxmachines
the Telecommunications Act 1985 to use a
Pear Members,
(Samsung 1700), legal insurance (Le gal Protection Group is now the most competitive 081-763- Dili), and the Arts
:U..o„of.ai ale fro. Young^t l end^ft
Newsletter, which I am always recommending
Kate English has informed us that urine and
to Members, the following arcane items of infor mation or knowledge mightalsobe of use.
milk both retain heat better than water, which
Mv attention has switched to the bedrf>nmc lUo,,,, p^ventMemters leaving fires bunung all day. They seeme^^ Ifique'T'itreff^.ive'^^^^1°
a,e nme, """hejoke has wan. U,m and we have now liberated the heaters so no one should hie
"frTtt'hfw Whether to brave the coulo dT, I^ T™ mvestigating the telephone systems ""*"8^y time you getT.hthtsTetter later. Inh, addition, to install in thethemoms
Ifanyone has knowledge of good systems, and especially good dealers, I would welcome their information.
At the same time as we wire up the rooms to take the telephones, we will probably run a
television cable through the rooms. Some people have commented that the noise oftelevision in one room will disturb the rest oftheir neighbours. I would appreciate your comments, for and
against. Iwill also give aTV Dinner for any good televisions you were thinking of discarding!
Iam glad to be able toreport that we have reorganized the long term borrowing ofthe Club, now £290,000, down from £420,000 five years ago. We were offered 15 year money at 11.5% but the conditions and the front end costs were soheavy that in the end we settled for a £150,000 loan irom the Nat West at 13.5% for 15 years (repayable earlier ata penalty ofonly £1871) and the balance of£140,000 at 2.5% over base againstwhich we could set our credit balances for a fee
of 2%. We hope to be in a position to offset the entire variable rate loan two years from now, implying a significant reduction in borrowing costs. Offsetting ourcredit balances against our loans has been something thatthe banks have always claimed it wasimpossible todo. Members in asimilar position should take note of this change of attitude. My thanks for this unexpected and desirable outcome aredue to the Boardwho insisted on haggling with theBank until the last moment. We arestillhowever veryconcerned with thecostof bankcharges, and I would beglad to talk to Members who have found a way of significantly reducing theirs. I On the notice board is a list of Members whom we have been unaWe to contact about their I
snbscripiions. If you know the whereabouts of any of these, please let Kate know. We have I elected replacements for allMembers whom we expect toresign. More than 75% ofthe 75orso 1
elections that have taken place this year went to ordinaiy Members. The Town Membership is | closed. It has however been agreed, as along term strategy to further strengthen the finances of I the Club, to increase the country membership by 50 and the overseas membership by an iftdefmite amount until all the rooms are occupied by Members only.
We will beinterviewing all the candidates on allthewailing listsoverthenextyearortwo. Those
who are accepted will then be placed on the appropriate waiting list for their category of Membership and taken offit in chronological order as and when vacancies occur. This way the Council will not miss any good candidates who might otherwise get lost in the files; the candidates and sponsors will know exactly where they stand; and the management will know
exactly how many people there are available to fill any vacancies should they occur. These waiting lists will be open to inspection. In addition we will be creating lists orbooks (the method
is still undecided) whereby individual members will be able to express their support for canidates
Bernard Stone has warned us of the follow
ing: Do not give the Clubas your address when
coin box which does not take coins, which is why, in part, we have a new sous chef.
is why you should not pull the chain in bath rooms which do not have central heating dur ing the winter, and why you should put milk in your tea before you answer the telephone.
arranging a marriage at the Chelsea Arts Club.
Last week the registrar refused to marry the bride, aged 61, and groom, aged 70, on the
Patrick Hughes has told us that the correct way to catch a parrot which refuses to come
grounds that the mies of the Club forbade
down from a tree is to tum a hose on it. Wet
Members to stay in the Club for more than
feathers won't fly.
than the required times for residence stipu lated by the marriage regulations.
If you have any information which you believe should be shared with your fellow Members,
The police have informed us that it is an of
please ring Dudley on 071-376-3311, or fax
fence carrying a term of imprisonment under
me on 071-351-5986.
OBITUARY
PATRICK HALL (igoe -1992) Patrick Hall, artist and a leading U.K. watercolourist was 85. He was bom in York on 16th December 1906 and died at Ashford, Kent on 10th June 1992.
Educated at St. Peter's and then Sedbergh he was also a Freeman of the City of York. In his youth his work was first exhibited in 1928 at the Royal Academy. He worked in the
family business, Hall's Tanneryof New Earswick, York, until 1947whenheset up home and studio in London as a professional artist. During the London period he became Hon. Sec. of the Chelsea Arts Club. He met many famous artists and in particular was a close friend, from his York days, with Sir Henry
Rushbury RA, Keeper of the RA and Head of RA Schools. Friendship also blossomed with art entrepreneur, Victor Waddington at whose Dublin Gallery he had his first oneman show. He later had exhibitions at Waddington Galleries in London and Montreal. Following an idiomatic change for works shown at Waddington Galleries, Patrick became a regular exhibitor at the Marjorie Parr Gallery in Chelsea. Subsequently he continued to show at Montpelier Studio in Knightsbridge until his death. He moved home and studio to Sellindge, Kent in the 1950*s.He travelled both in Britain and extensively on the Continent with his wife, Mary, mainly in France, painting the local landscape and architecture in a style uniquely his own. His work has been
purchased by many British public collections including the Imperial War Museum, the Nuffield Foundation, numerous university, cathedral and municipal collections. Many of his works are also in private collections internationally. He is also represented in the National Gallery of Australia and the Christchurch Gallery, New Zealand.
put upby other members.
Patrick Hall exhibited extensively in this country and abroad. He was married to Mary
The main event ofthe next month is therevival ofthe Chelsea Arts Club Ball inthe Albert Hall on October 11th. Incase the Ball isnotcovered elsewhere inThe Whistler, this ball isthe work
Ebdon in 1935 who survives him with their daughter Bridget.
of Alexander Sombart, the dancer, and Nick Hutchinson, both Members, who are bearing the
Selected One-Man Exhibitions: Waddington Galleries - Dublin, London & Montreal; Marjorie Parr Gallery - Chelsea; Austen Hayes Gallery - York; Montpelier Studio -
entire risk ofthe event. The purpose of the ball is to raise alarge sum for Aids Research, but 25% ofthe first £60,000 of profits, £15,000, will go to the Club Trust. The ball keeps the memory of the Great Balls alive and should be a lot offun for a lot ofmembers. The entertainment consists
of Shirley Bassey. Tom Jones and Elvis CosteUo with the Count Basie Orchestra; and Colm Vamcombe of 'Black', Nicky Laird Cloud of 'Dream Academy', and Micha Pans wdh the Dave Gilmour House Band. Maya Plisetskaya will also be appeanng. They should well be worth the
Knightsbridge. Group Exhibitions: Royal Academy; Royal Scottish Academy; Paris Salon; New English Art Club.
entrance price of £25. You can book by telephoning the office. The event ^ character fromapainting. including one ofyours - with
you can win the Hockney used for the poster by buying araffle ticket fr
each other. The proceeds also go to the charity.
0.
AGM 1992: THE COUNCIL reported with regret that, since the 1991 AGM, it has been notified of the deaths of the following Members:
evenln, eole—W«CH tee «
Glaj^on.jazz pianist. Donald Swann appe^ o 0" the 11th at 7pm; and so on throughout the ^
^
October,
Tournament. Please telephone
cf£5 for the benefit of the AGBI.
All spectators are welcome to this evening, ^
!-• u oKoiiH he amusing even though the outcome
(another win by Patrick Hughes) is not in doubt. ^ours with best wishes.
JOHN KOBAL; EILEEN AGAR; FALAISE DE LA FORCE; HELEN M. OWEN; MRS E.L. WERE; SIR JOHN ROTHENSTEIN; SIR CHARLES VILLIERS; GUY DEGHY; PETER WAY; FRANCIS BACON; DOUGLAS LEWIS; HEATHER McCONNELL; F. McWILLIAM; JOHN SPENCER CHURCHILL; LORD WINTERBOTTOM; JOHN PIPER; J. WATSON; ADRIAN BURY; LYLYAN FISHER; ANTON FURST.
Dudley Winterbottom
THE WHISTLER 21
quiet, sleepy village in SW France. Totally secluded south facing walled garden. 15 mins by car from medieval city of Carcassone. £250 per week in high season. Phone 081 806
SMALLS HOLIDAY
ACCOMMODATION
9640
Q Mediterranean art holiday. 2 week painting courses given for £137 per week or £87.50 per week each for couple sharing.
• Paris: tiny flatlet, very central (9lh) sleeps 2. Available for short stays, weekends, holidays. Cheap! Phone Hans
for up to 6 people on a small family hill farm in Andalucia -
& Sue Brill 071- 373 0667
lOOkms NW of Seville. No
electricity, otherwise all mod
•
Artist member forced to sell
South Normandy Farmhouse. Studio & 1 acre of land. Beautiful oak beams & roof timbers. Wall excellent. Mains electricity & water. Also 2 storied oak timbered out
building. Village 1 km. Paris 3 hrs. 70 miles from ferry at Caen (5hrs from Portsmouth). Whole place, £25,000 or just house & land, £20,000. For photos & details Tel: Colin Smith: 081 989 6607.
Q Accommodation available
cons! No vehicular access -
15min walk from lively rural village. Write for information: Tim & Lin Brudenell, Finca Farruca, Lista de Correos, Galaroza, Huelva. £100-ish per
• Vacancy in Prinimaking studio, NWIO. Personal space, good etching & screenprinting facilities & dark room. Spacious & friendly. £175 per calendar
Terrace, SW7. Own room with
patio/roof terrace, w.m., 2 mins Kens Gdns. Phone; 589 1416.
£107 pw.
month. Pis ring Jeff Eldwards:
Lobster Lunch. Tel: Penzance
Includes instruction, rustic
• Apartment to let in Benahavis, Nr Malaga, Spain. 1 bedroom, living room, kitchen
• 4 storey Victorian house for sale in trendy Whitechapel. Huge skylit studio, 3 beds, bathroom, cloakroom, kitchen, dining room, garden. Quiet street between two garden squares. Easy parking (featured in decor magazine). Freehold
accommodation & breakfast in
& bathroom. 2 balconies
£169,000. Tel: 071 377 6870.
machine etc. £40,000. Ground
artist's own cottage. Idyllically situated in mediaeval village. Tel: 071 351 0153, bookings
overlooking mountains & tropical gardens with swimming pool. 25.000 pesetas per week (approx. £135 ). Tel owner: 010
• Spacious light & airy studio in unique Victorian school,
rent - £100 pa. Service charge £400 pa (estimate). Apply to the Secretary, Chelsea Aits Club
including immaculate living
33 65 411449
area. All mod cons. Wild life
ACCOMMODATION/
gdn & off-street parking. £750
STUDIOS WANTED
(0736) 500048 or send/write to Belinda Rushworth Lund 7 St
Mary's Terrace, Penzance, Comwall TR18 40Z.
from June - October.
Q Moulin Guillot, Centre for
081 969 3032.
•
Flat for sale. 16 year lease.
SWIO. 1 double bedroom. Sitting room, kitchen/breakfast room on 1st floor with terrace.
Immaculate condition, fitted
carpets, curtains, washing
per month. Contact John
•
farmhouse to rent in SW
Loker: 071 247 4223/095 381
France. 24k from Cahors.
730.
Q Holiday let, £250 per week,
cuisine. Eight comfortable bedrooms & residents lounge.
• Bedsit wanted for responsible professional in TV & Film Industry, preferably £50-f60pw.
inclusive maid service in
Facilities available for artists,
Annexe in private house, own entrance, use of splash pool. Double bedroom, sitting/dining
potter, anglers & walkers. Flat
• Flat for sale, off Tite Street, SW3. 2 beds, 3rd floor, light & airy. 110 year lease. £132,500.
351 2917 (Day), 081 876 8274
rate tariff includes: room,
large salon, 3 double bedrooms, separate w.c. Sleeps 8 max. For further details, phone: 07985
breakfast & 3 course dinner
496
Tel: 071 376 4962.
room, bathroom, kitchen. Own
with unlimited wine all for £30
entrance. 30 mins from
per adult. Wooden camping complex in stable style
151075.
by car - available 17th July. £350 pw in July, £300pw in August, £250 pw in October.
• Holiday let. Traditional Spanish Cottage between Granada and the sea. Sleeps 6, 4 bedrooms, patio and roof terrace with panoramic mountain views. From £l80pw.
Tel: Alma, 071 223 0906.
Tel. 352 7878 for brochure.
double, 1 twin. Mahon 10 mins
Fax: 081 766 6977.
Art & Tourism. In centre of
of Mahon Harbour. Set in
beautiful garden with olive trees. Large terraces - own rowing boat. 2 bedrooms, 1
Residential studio units
France. Traditional Creuseoise
Mediterranean, 1 hour from Atlantic. Tel: Osborn, 34 52
To rent - Villa in Menorca in
•
week.
quiet cove with stunning views
•
Duncan Meyer, 071 384 1389.
• Mature, responsible flatmate required to share large, sunny, Spanish style flat in Queensgate
• Heptarchy charters. Classic Day Cruising around the Helford River & Fal Estuary including Champagne &
per week excl. Short term £200 per week. Tel: 071 229 0224 ansaphone.
serious artists. Tel: Elizabeth
month incl. except for telephone, £330.00. Please call Pbilippa Clare: 071 723 6404.
available. Tel: 081 766 7027 or
0273
• Very cheap six bedroom holiday house in France for rent. Ardeche L'Argentiere, Montpelier - Contact 081 877
kitchen & bathroom. Rent per
Q To rent, cottage in hamlet in £.W. France. Sleeps 2. Telephone: France, 65 368320.
Q For sale. Paris, Artists studio/ houseboat. Moored at Conflans
Ste Honorine. Barge is 120ft long & 15 ft wide. Two living areas. Mooring £500 per year. Asking price £70,000 ono. Pis tel: Sally, 081 672 4449 or Dominique Coumauit: 010 331 3972 6450 for details/viewing.
•
Bed & Breakfast in artists
converted watermill. Close to
Traditional French
Includes fannhouse kitchen,
• STUDIOS AVAILABLE
facilities & breakfast is
• Apartment at Bemeja Beach, Estepona to let. "Walk onto beach from flat. Swimming pool. 2 double beds, 2 de luxe bathrooms. Living room / dining room, kitchen, huge balcony. First floor. Low season, £60 per week (Nov Apr). High season, £175 per
(eve).
• Studio space in North London, approx lOOsq ft to
ACCOMMODATION/
accommodation with shower
available for groups of children over 10 years (supervised) for £5 per night. Tel: 010 33 5562 1302 (French) 0242 224830 (English).
Central London. Call Tim: 071
• Heart of Soho in major theatre. Clean, crisp. Studio/ Offlce and apartment
share with 2 illustrators & a
comfortable. Pis contact Liz
designer. Must be a nonsmoker. £35 pw. Call Ken or
Friend • 828 8798.
David: 071 272 7329
MODELS AVAILABLE AND WANTED
combined. ALL mod cons incl.
jet bath, dishwasher & etc. Sleeps two. Double glazing, enlryphone, lift. Ritzy neighbours. Prefer long term arrangement; #200 per wk vncl. everything except electricity . and phone. Message for Mike 071-497 8629 (ansaphone).
One bedroom flat or flatshare
wanted. Within easy reach of Pimlico. This area o.k. Light &
• Bedsitting room available in beautiful house - use of luxury kitchen & bathroom. Peaceful
old English garden. £325pcm Inclusive. Tel: Alma, 071 223
• Experienced life model available. Big or small classes. Students or professionals. £5 per hour. Tel Sarah: 081 874 3045.
0906
garden & woodland. Stream.
Q Life model available. Already registered with Heatherley Sch. of Fine Art, Chelsea Art College & Royal College of Art. Tel
Peace. 2 double bedrooms. 8'
Kathleen Pennor: 071 225 2777
Q To let in Wye Valley. Idyllic secluded water mill. 6 acres
• Large Victorian terrace house for sale between
months or so from end June.
Honfleur, Deauvill & Trouville.
week. Children welcome.
Countryside & beaches nearby. Tel: (01033) 31 89 44 41 Fax; (01033)31 89 49 63.
MarbeJla 1 hour, Gibraltar 40
mins. Tel: Mr D Ambrose, 071
Finsbury Park and Stoke Newinglon. Original features, garden, cellars, excellent shopping and transport
486 4488.
connections. Sound condition, but needs some renovation.
Islington. 100' garden, 3 receps,
- 12 November, 1992. Tour for
•
Q Converted stone bam to let
£110,000. Contact Gabriel
3/4 beds, 3 bathrooms.
•
painters & families for £585 per person. Painting guidance by artist Jeremy LeGrice. 7 day Nile
room with bath & kitchenette,
in Southwest of France. 6
Weissmano:
£495,000. Contact Sue
mornings & evenings. Contact
4000 pesetas per day per person. Use of swimming pool. Postal address: Apartado 340, Estepona, Malaga, Spain. Tel;
bedrooms, each with showers & wc, 18 beds, dining room, living room with T.V. & telephone, 1 kitchen. Situated in calm unspoilt countryside. 60 francs per bed per night. Ideal for group holiday. Phone
081 341 2033 or 071 272 6269.
Douglas: 071 782 5648
Emma Borland: 071 720 8991.
• Studio space available in good light studio. Only used by the owner 2 days a week. Would suit artift, designer, jewellery maker etc. Portobello
•
•
Monsieur Lade (DIG 33) 65 29
Road area. All facilities £60.00
•
Arts in Egypt - Nile Cruise, 5
Cruise. Visits to Museums,
To let in Spain - twin bed
Pyramids, The Sphinx etc. Price includes flights, transfers, accomm, sightseeing & meals.
(52) 79 44 16.
Discounts for C.A.C. Members
•
& their families. All enquiries to Jill AnnHeld: 081 874 7384.
Bareboat or skippered charters available in Ionian Islands.
42 25 or write: M. Lade, St
Clair, 12260 France, (some
• Coombe Farm, 17lh Century Manor House in Kingsbridge,
Prices start from £450 per boat per week depending on month & type of boat. Phone or write:
South Devon. Offers bed &
39 Thurlestone Rd, London,
•
breakfast. On farm activities
SE27 OPE. Tel: 081 670 3980.
Andalucia has 4 s/c apartments for 2, 3, 4 people, all with glorious views to Africa.
include, Coombe Water Fishery & an art studio in a lovely bam just outside the main house. Guests can join local artists in
Chameleon Yacht Charters.
Q Apartment to let in Southern Spain in Benahavie • Andalucian Mountain Village.
French necessary). Converted Olive Mill in
Owner is C.A.C. member & can
using the Studio. Children over 12yrs are preferred. Tel:
8km inland from San Pedro de
offer reduced rates through winter. Phone Jancis Page: 010
Alcantara. 40km from Ronda.
34 52 15 12 77.
Jonathan & Beni Robinson,
Approx £135 per week. 1 bedroom, living room with sofa bed, dining area, 2 balconies,
0548 852038.
• Luxury accommodation in Georgian Farm House in Norfolk. Bedrooms en suite
ftom £16 pp per night. Tel; Mary John, (0328 820) 251. • Winter Letting. Dordogne, Pengoid Vert, Tel: 0103353520634
kitchen & bathroom. Use of
swimming pool, tennis court. Tel: Howard, 010 34 52 855470.
• Mijas/S. Spain. Family home to sleep 6, incl part time housekeeper. Pool & large garden. To let long term £90
•
£100 per week. 071 352 8806
•
•
for sale. Duncan Terrace,
for work. 5'4" good proportions. Age 23. Very professional. Tel: Suzy, 081 886 9529.
Beautiful Georgian house
Houseboat for sale in
Female life model available
Life model avaOable
Female model required.
Chiswick. 1 double bed, 1
Contact Julien Matei. Tel: 071
single bed, bathroom, kitchen, dining/drawing room, phone & electricity. Please phone Mrs
221 3672. •
Whicker on 044463471.
urgently required by Epsom
pw. Tel: 081 969 6236.
Life models & models
School of Art. Contact Josie •
House for sale at Trewellard
Kemp: 0372 728811
Cliff, Cornwall. 2/3 beds, all
• Bright room with adjoining kitchen and shower in Regency Villa, Clapham Stockwell
mod cons & 40 foot studio.
•
£75,000. Tel Lewis; 0736
borders. Near tube & bus and
787773.
Experienced with various art schools. Pis contact Kate Gibson
Sainsburys. Ail amenities plus garden. Non smoker only. #50.00 plus #8.00 for bills per
Model in need of work.
071 735 4747 or leave a message
720 5114
• Spacious Chelsea Studio available for rent, Saturdays & Sundays, £50 per day. Suitable for painting groups or teaching. Phone London Sketch Club:
Q '69 'Shark' Mustang, straight
•
071 352 8713.
six coupe. Black interior; immaculate. Black everflex roof:
immaculate. 2.8 Engine: any
week. Contact E. Milner 071-
Room to let in flat in
on 071 404 5379
FOR SALE
West Cork House to rent.
Parsons Green. Possible to use
Seaview to Dunmanus Bay from converted farm buildings on quiet hillside lane. 10 miles from Bantry, 10 mins walk to sea. July; £175/wk. Aug: £200/ wk. 3 double rooms, 2 single.
as a studio. £75 per week incl. Please call Fiona or Bobby:
•
Windsor. £3500 o.n.o. Phone
mechanic's examination
071 736 8869.
Frances K White:
welcome. Auto, PAS, radio, all original features. Bodywork (red) needsusual clean up. Exactly as factory original - 2 ownerssince new. Rarity: #2950 Tel: Mike 071-4973545. (CAC
Phone Miriam Polunin: 071
0753867068.
• Large bedroom available to rent in big mansion block flat. 5 mins form Marble Arch &
483 4112
Baker Street. All mod cons, TV,
•
Washing machine, laundry room. Share sitting room,
Delightful 1880's house in
Houseboat for sale near
THE WHISTLER 22
• Lovely Fulham Garden Studio to share pan time. Small. No storage space. Suit tidy painter/etcher/illusirator. £120 monthly. References. Only
member)
• Hot-hatch 205 L6 Gti needs exciting new owner. *F' Reg.
•
a fast and accurate service.
April 1989, MOT, Tax, Eiec
or Sarah: 071 370 6027
Discount for CAC Members. Call Ms I Moorsom: 071584 8670.
• Simair Compressor & super
• Body Politics - series of
windows & central locking, black & beautifril. Call Annie: 071 287 0815 or 071 736 0l79...£5k(ono) • Car for sale. Wolesley 1500. Dove grey. 6 months MOT, 6 months tax. £375!! Very reliable. CallJules: 071 589 9855.
Prison door for sale, circa 1850s. £450. Contact Michael B
63 Air Bmsh by de Vilbiss. Used 3 times for Demos £180.00 o.n.o.
• Exercise bike for sale, hardly used approx. £100.00 Tel: 071
until end of October at Camden
John Paul: 385 1083
834 2829
Head Pub, Islington,Nl,
• Canvas for sale. Stretched &
7.30pm. £5.00.
primed, measuring 8'4"x 5'. Slightly dented. Offers to jonathait Miller: 071 352 4614. • Car for sale. 1953 Hillman Minx, green, saloon, steering
wheel gearshift. Contact Bill Stephens: 071370 0244. • Small wheeled 3 gear ladies
bicycle, as new.£60. Ring 071 736 0056.
• Radial Easel for sale. Tel: 385 7396
MISCELLANEOUS
• Vintage pens & pencils bought & sold. Tel Phyllis Gorlick King: 071 584 2688 • Looldng for live music for your party or special event? Promotions: 071 476 7766 or Fax: 071 511 5303.
formation of a discussion group
course. Mon 24 Aug - Friday 28 Aug. 10am - 4pm daily. Fulham
about current aspects of
studio, SW6. Tel Anna
contemporary art? Please contact George Hunt at the Club.
Minshall: 071 385 6467.
• Triangle Balalaika Trio. Russian Folk music with singer. Tel Pamela Synge 071 235 3952
•
Anyone interested in the
• Nipper Snippers - children's hairdressers, nursery, creche. 8 Hollywood Road, London,
• Tom Gilbey is looking for students to work - all types of styles needed. Pis contact 734
SW10 9HYTel: 071 351 2329.
4877
Q Chemise Phillippe, made-to-
• Need two reliable,
measure shirts. Tel: 081 360
trustworthy professionals to look after your house in France whilst you're not there. You provide the property, we'll provide the care. Available immediately for up to 2 years. Please call Julie Dark: 071 702 3380.
1818
• Fiona Hayes B.A.. N.R.H.P. M.I.S.M. Psychotherapy Hypnotherapy, stress management. Tel: 071 370 1427
Contact Tora at Blue Movement
• Life drawing & painting
BUBBLE WINNER N0.3 — MICHAEL DUNNING, LONDON
"Philip: So it's agreed. No smoking in the Dining Room? Dudley: Yes Agreed. And the first person I catch smoking will be thrown out on their arse!"
• The London Group, open Q Body Harmony - increase
exhibition at the Barbican
your energy and joy in life. Aromatherapy: Moraig Macdonald MA ITEC, 071 736
Centre. October 1992. For
further info, send a S.A.E to The
9350. Body conditioning:
London, SE22 9LL
Reflexology: Sonia Ducie MAR,
•
0941 101516.
coilecrion of figurative paintings for peoples houses seeks sales person with many personal
•
Need any typing done? I offer
• Dressmaker/Designer. Repairs & alterations. Tel: Branca Barasel, 071 584 3269
London Group, P.O. Box 447,
Patricia Lawlor, 071 373 9985.
• Schooner for sale. Tel: 081 892 1819
meetings to discuss the work of
artists who are actively breaching the boundaries of sexual taboo. Meetings held on last Thursday of each month
contacts to sell pictures privately, commission only. Contact M. G. Gregory: 081 203 3435. Also portrait painter seeks agent to get commissions. Potential high earnings.
Mature, talented artist with
• Quality picture frames made to order by Helen Richardson & Jaspal Singh. Tel 251 3101 •
Learn Flamenco Guitar. Tel
dttrachike
Small ads are free of charge to all.
Members. To be printed (as from October 1992) all ads MUST contain a NAME if an
address or telephone number is included for o response.
071 228 6776
IP only,
oppos/tls. .
i-Ka.r OpfVSlFS
NOTE:
|'4 rahht
couM
agree
Fcsihvc.
— a cortim'K
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LONELY ARTS * Shy writer needs a firm
* Sweet blond with naughty
female hand. Box 139
niffs. Are you flexible enough to take a risk and try something
* Old professor wants
unusual. Box 145
stimulation in order to finish
magnum opus. Box 140
m Stuffed shin wants the starch taken out of him. Box 146
* Lonely lady (30's) by the sea wants interesting correspondent. Box 141
Anglo-American painter
(famous) can imagine you for his next production. Liketo
* Club politician, handsome andneat, facing retirement is
audition? Box 147
open to offers of a non
» Stem masterseeks lady with a slave complex for educational purposes. Box 148
executive nature. Or as a
sleeping partner. Box 142 Media mogul has spare afternoon for relaxation with
» Critically acclaimed, Creative and generous man
lady of similar responsibilities.
fallen on hard times needs love
Box 143
and affection. Box 149
* Fun loving beauty would like generous, artistically minded member for luxurious good times. Box 144
^ If you answered Box 109 last issue please be patient. I have been swamped with replies.
^ Sensitive lady painter finds work takes up too much time. Is there a good looking, solvent
» Very classy lady with high powered media job seeks stylish guy for mutual
* Dynamic PR girl, SW London, gets lonely in those qiet moments - wants to enjoy
* Older man, life spent in publishing. More personality
male available for
entertainment. Non-smoker
life with a creative man.
uncomplicated fun? Box 150
essential. Box 156
(unfortunately) would like relaxed relationship with artistic lady. Gallery visits and
* Man in happy relationship wants to be occasionally bad. Is
^ Does your life lack the
Especially interested in theatre, railway preservation and travel. Speaks fluent Italian. Box 161
there a lady in the same
position somewhere out there?
Woman wanted for pure fantasy fulfilment (two way). Why not
Box 151
take a dare. Box 157
adventure of the unknown?
* Very sexy, positive, pretty, blond English girl, 30's. resident in Sydney. Australia,
and charm than cash in Bank
etc. Nothing ventured nothing gained - but nothing heavy either. Friendship before romance is probably the best way forward? Box 165
.misses that essential British
^ Discipline offered to errant
* Professional painter (40s)
ladies. No sex. Box 152
needs relaxation. Would once
cool. Would like pen pal to open up a wealth of
or twice a week would do the
possibilities for the future. No
trick? Box 158
Surfers. Box 162
Good looking single man can't seem to meet anyone new.
literary background, currently
Mature lady wanted for casual dates by discreet but
in televisuals, seeks someone
overworked business man. Own
promise you all sorts in return
for fun times and no
company based in SW London.
for small investment. Older
complicated scenes. Box 159
Would the occasional lunch
Divorced lady, no kids,
Box 153
I need a patroness. I can
suit? Box 163
woman preferred by male 30's. Successful West End actress
Box 154
highly solvent would like to * Recently separated sexy woman needs some real old fashioned fun outings. See how
it goes? Box 155
meet well educated, well heeled and well mannered independent
^ Young. 20's, well travelled graphic designer would like to meet confident beauty for on
man (40's-t-) for social time and
going relationship. Relieve my
possibly romance. Box 160
drawing bored? Box 164
THE WHISTLER 23
a*'
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sellotape over the flaps of all Box Number reply enve lopes. Only the Editor knows the identity of Box Number advertisers and be assured that this will remain the case.
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Insurance V-i
Specialists to the Art World
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Crowley Colosso LIMITED
For further information please contact us Telephone + 44 71 782 9782 Facsimile + 44 71782 9783