Kroyer's loveliest art in France & Denmark

Kroyer, Hip, Hip, Hurrah! 1888, 
Gothenburg Museum of Art, Sweden

Impressionism was at first a French art movement, starting in the second half of the C19th. Impressionist techniques included visible, thick brush strokes of pure colour, creating a vibrant effect, and capturing the essence of the subject matter rather than focusing on minute details. Impressionists often painted outdoors to capture the effects of sunlight on their subjects, favouring natural poses and domestic scenes, creating a sense of freshness and normalcy. Even after thousands of artists from other nations flooded into France to learn from the Impressionists, these artists took French Impressionist techniques back home with them.

Peder Krøyer (1851-1909) was a Norwegian born lad who moved to Copenhagen for school and then studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Art. In his 20s, Krøyer travelled widely in Europe. While  in Paris, Kroyer was particularly impressed by the Impressionists who were already making a name for themselves - Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas and Sisley. Kroyer spent his formative years travellng in France from 1877-81 but then he had to go back to Denmark in 1882, where his taste for Impressionism stayed with him.

The group of Scandinavian artists formed an art group in Skagen at the tip of Denmark’s Jutland in the 1880s-early 1890s. I wonder what the rather conservative fishermen of this remote fishing village thought about the big city artists, with their alcohol and their women. Anyhow, because of Kroyer’s experience as a well travelled, well trained artist in French taste, he became leader of the Skagen community.

His work during the 1880s was fresh, often showing a peaceful life on the beach, often celebrating art with all his artist friends, usually with food and drink at hand. Consider for example The Artists' Luncheon 1883. Here you can see the Skagen artists eating a convivial, boozy lunch at Brøndum's Hotel. His art was also influential.

Kroyer, Artists' Luncheon at Skagen, 1883,
Granger Collection, New York

Denmark does not have a hot climate, so I wondered why so many paintings had summer picnics, summer outdoor lunches and summer walks on the beach. The answer was that Kroyer divided his time between a holiday home in Skagen each shortish summer and his flat in Copenhagen where he worked on his large commissions each longish winter.

Anna Ancher and Marie Krøyer on Skagen beach, 1890s,

Private collection. Wikimedia.

I am very loyal to my favourite artists. And now another Kroyer painting has grabbed my attention and I need to annouce my newest Favourite Painting Of All Times. At least for now! Hip, Hip, Hurrah! 1888 is a large work that is in the Gothenburg Museum of Art in Sweden. The painting shows members of the guild of Skagen Painters, socialising as they were wont to do, in the open gardens. For me, Hip, Hip, Hurrah! is typical of the work produced by the Skagen Painters, focusing as it does on the play of light in the rather limited landscape. Gothenburg Museum asks people to compare Hip, Hip, Hurrah! with Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party, and in both composition and subject matter. And another comparison. Hip, Hip, Hurrah! had many of the same people we saw in Artists' Luncheon at Skagen 1883.

Because the 1888 work took some years to paint, Swedish art collector Pontus Fürstenberg bought the painting before it was completed. Fürstenberg later donated his treasure to the Gothenburg Museum of Art, where it remains today.

The film PS Krøyer - What A Life! was made in Denmark in 2008. I have not seen the documentary so my summary comes from MUBI. Krøyer was the undisputed centre of the Skagen painters. He was famous; lionised and married to the most beautiful woman in Copenhagen. The film was a tribute to an artistic prodigy whose excellence brought Danish art to an international level. Krøyer brought a whole new way of life to Skagen; as the artists’ colony was created, so the party could begin. Everybody wanted to go there. Hip Hip Hurrah! became the symbol of the two decades of happiness and unity in the 1880s-90s.

Only when his mother’s insanity started to manifest itself did Krøyer's beautiful life start to unravel. His wife left him and with her, the foundation of his idyllic existence disappeared. But he had to live on. Fortunately he had steady, loving support until the very end. Kroyer died in 1909.

**

I went on a history cruise in the past and loved it. Avalon Cruises’ special interest trips have lectures and cultural activities on board that relate to the towns that art buffs love. In deference to Kroyer I would most like to spend time on the “Seine River Cruise” that leaves Paris, sailing to Vernon, for a guided visits to Claude Monet’s gardens at Giverny. On to Joan of Arc’s historic Rouen, where the excursion is to the Normandy land­ing beaches. There is an optional excursion to the Impres­sion­ists’ coastal town of Honfleur. In the medieval town of Conflans, visit  Vincent van Gogh’s gateway to Auvers-sur-Oise. In Paris see Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Opéra, Madeleine, Champs Elysées and the Eiffel Tower.  Enjoy a cabaret show at Toulouse Lautrec’s Moulin Rouge. The 8-day cruise leaves Paris regularly throughout April-August.

Old Harbour, Honfleur

Honfleur was where Monet, Courbet, Dubourg, Boudin, Bazille, Corot, Sisley and others painted. It was also the home of Musée Eugène Boudin.

Map of France and Denmark

note Honfleur to Skagen to Copenhagen 

Old Parliament House Canberra & museum

Duke and Duchess of York 

opened Parliament House May 1927.    

                                   

The need for a national capital city arose when the colonies united to form the Comm­onwealth of Australia in 1901. The constitution provided that a new national capital should be built half way between Melbourne and Sydney, to avoid jealousy and conflict. The new Australian capital city of Can­berra was fixed in 1908 and the area was formally ceded to the Federal Government in 1911. However the Parliament couldn’t relocate from its interim location, Melbourne, to Can­berra until the new building was ready.

Parliament House was designed by Scottish John Smith Murdoch (1862–1945), the first Common­wealth Government archit­ect in Australia, and a team of assist­ants from the Dept of Works & Railways. The building wasn't int­ended to be permanent or elaborate; rather a provisional building to serve Parliament for 50 years max. It would be a classical building like the Parthenon, but with­out all the ornate details. And it was to look out over Lake Burley Griffin.

Murdoch’s provisional parliament building was to be modest & funct­ional. It was designed on a basic square, which provided the building with regular pro­p­or­t­ions. It was a 3 storey brick building with the principal floor on the middle level. The funct­ional aspect was reflected in all the des­ign, extending to the interior fit­t­ings & furnishings. The faç­ade originally included a grid of recessed openings and balcon­ies, with four bays having arched bronze windows and stepped parapets. The building’s front façade had strong horizontal lines, display­ing only 2 storeys, with higher massed elements behind the faç­ade, indicating the loc­ation of the debating chambers. The lower mass in the centre was where King’s Hall was. As a result, with its now enclosed verandas and colonnades, and strong horiz­ontal lines, the building was not as some people expected a proper Par­liament House to be.

Old Parliament House, front entrance

It didn't include cl­assical arch­itectural elements like columns or pedim­ents, but did have the necessary sym­metry. In the end, he had designed what is now considered a significant, nation­ally-listed heritage building with fine classical simplicity, order & proportion. And the design ex­tended from the building to include its gard­ens, dé­cor and furn­ishings.

Murdoch designed both the exterior of the building AND the int­er­iors. He had to integrate all the spaces required of a parliament including: chambers, King’s Hall, party rooms, library, offices, members’ dining rooms and kit­chens. And he designed a distinctive set of furniture that shared the architecture’s design language.

Everything was pre-planned. Old Parliament House was designed in the Strip­ped Classical Style, commonly used for most Aust­ralian government build­ings built in Can­b­erra in the 1920s-30s. It was also recognisable in Murd­och’s other Can­ber­ra buildings eg Hyatt Hotel Canberra and Hotel Kurrajong.

Parliament House and Old Parliament House are the most significant features in the area covered by the National Triangle. Other build­ings key to the design and symmetry of the Triangle are the High Court and the National Gallery near Lake Burley Griffin, and the National Libr­ary.

Note that some of the integrity of Canberran architecture came after John Murdoch persuaded archit­ect Walter Burley Griffin to come to Australia from the USA. He was very busy.

Old Parliament House was the seat of the Parliament of Australia from 1927-88. In the 63 years that the building served, there were changes in the size and nature of the Federal Parliam­ent. During those years, the House of Representatives grew from 76 to 148 members and the Senate from 36 to 76 members. In 1927, only the Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, Prime Minister, Lead­er of the Government in the Senate and ministers had their own offices. But in the next 60 years, great changes took place in Australian social and political life, and democracy matured.

In 1927 the bush landscape in Canberra stood in stark contrast to the estab­lish­ed lush gardens of Parliament House in Melbourne. So throughout the 1930s, gardens were established to the east and west of Old Parliament House, patterned rose and annuals display beds, set in lawns and trees. Located on either side of Old Parliament House today are the rebuilt House of Representatives Garden and the Senate Garden so that when Parliament moved, the old gardens could be opened to the public.

By the 1980s, the building had exceeded its capacity with 3,000 people crowded into a building intended for a few hun­dred. Members and senators had tiny, overcrowded offices. In June 1988, mem­bers sat for the last time after 61 years in the old building, as Parl­iament trans­ferred to the completed New Par­l­iament House on Capital Hill.

Senate chamber

House of Reps chamber

Was King's Hall,

now Museum of Australian Democracy

So the sig­nif­icance of Old Parliament House today lies in its hist­or­ical value. In May 2008 King’s Hall became the Mus­eum of Austral­ian Democracy. It tells the herit­age of the build­ing and the story of Australia’s democracy. During its life as a work­ing parliament, the building was the setting for many of Aus­tral­ia’s major polit­ical events. Debates that influenced the future of the nation took place here, key decisions were taken, pol­itical careers were made and ended.

The Museum of Australian Democracy displays Aust­ralia’s pol­itical heritage. Old Parl­iament House is open daily, for either a guided tour or a self-tour where we can visit nearly all areas of the Old Parliament. See, for example, Kings Hall, House of Representatives Chamber, Prime Ministers Office, Cabinet Room and Senate Chamber.

In 1998 Old Parliament House became home to The National Port­rait Gallery which holds a range of changing exhibitions. And it serves as a venue for lectures and con­certs.

Image credits: Mildenhall images of Old Parliament House

St Louis' epic Union Station Missouri 1894->

Built in 1892-4, this Romanesque Revival project was designed by arch­itect Theodore Link for the Terminal Railroad Associat­ion of St Louis Mo. It was to serve as a Union Station for the multiple railroads that off­ered passenger services back then. The first train pul­led into Union St­ation in Sept 1894, ushering in a new and exciting time for the city, known as The Gateway To The West. Sud­denly it bec­ame a gateway to all of U.S. Over the next few years, Union Station bec­ame one of the largest, busiest passenger rail terminals in the world

                                    

Grand Hall, 1909, 

Wiki

The station saw its highest traffic during the World’s Fairs of 1902-04 and into WW2. At its peak in WW2, the station was a central hub for the country; 2+ million soldiers travelled through the st­ation mon­th­ly. Each day saw 100,000+ people at the station; people like Pres Harry Truman, Joe Di-Maggio, Joan Crawford and St Louis baseballers all came there.         

              

The building con­sists of three sections, those being:
1. The head house is granite-clad with a rough-hewn rusticat­ed base with hipped, gab­l­­ed and conical red terra cotta tile roofs, cylindrical tur­r­ets and a clock tower with an octagonal turret and pyramid-hipped roof. The ar­ch­ed window bays on the 2nd floor and the 3rd floor, Chat­eau­ wall dormers, stone terr­aces with stone railings and metal lampposts along the main entr­ance at the Grand Hall/large waiting room, a large suspend­ed metal canopy at the main ent­rance, and buff brick and brown brick cladding on the rear and side fac­ades. The in­terior originally housed a hotel, lunchroom, tick­et­ing fac­il­ities and offices. 

Grand Hall now, 

Groupon

 

Grand Hall feat­ured a 65’ barrel vaulted ceil­ing with de­cor­ative stencils and plaster work, arches with decorative sc­ulptural reliefs, walls with arched bays, green tile wainscoting, stain­ed gl­ass windows, terazzo floors, marble columns with decorat­ive cap­it­als, and fancy fire­places.The lovely Grand Hall feat­ured an elegant two-ton wrought-iron chand­elier. Inspired by the walled city of Carcassone in Sth France, Link designed an el­egant and modern version of a feudal passageway. The plat­form, surrounded by a much admired steel and glass wall decorated with ornate wrought iron gates, held an ex­citing view of moving trains. The sweeping archway reaches 65’, with fresco and gold leaf detailing, mos­aics and art-glass windows. The Grand Hall recently renovated and rest­ored, the iconic site re-opened with lounge seating and a great bar. And the Grand Hall provides beers, wines, and railroad-themed cocktails.

Just off the Grand Hall was a 75-room hotel serving railroad staff, bus­inessmen and travellers passing through town. Rooms were furn­ished only with a bed, nightstand, water jug and wash-bowl. Guests shared a comm­un­al bathroom on the 1st floor, a quiet relief from the station’s bustle.

2. The large Train Shed, a metal-frame structure with a barrel-vaulted roof, sky lights and roof monitors, orig­inally housed many train plat­forms. Today the train shed houses restaurants and a carou­sel, and central to the entire Union Station project is the str­ik­ing St Louis Aquarium. The 120,000-sq ft attraction exhibits thou­sands of aquatic species from global riv­ers and oceans. It will be cert­ified in the Ass­ociation of Zoos & Aquariums.  

St Louis Aquarium,

opened in Dec 2019

St Louis Post-Dispatch

3. The Midway, between the 2 larger structures, has a metal tr­uss roof with skylights, brick walls, marble floors, foun­tains & bal­conies. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a Nat­ional His­t­oric Landmark in 1970.

After a long de­c­line, the last pass­enger train service left in 1978. The building remained empty until 1985, when it was ren­ovated for reuse as a shop­p­ing mall, food court and ho­t­el. To stop the impressive ar­chit­ecture of Union Station being wasted, the building was given a new life.

In Aug 1985, Union Station was reopened, with retail sh­ops, event spaces and rest­aurants where tourists could en­joy St Louis. The stylish, sophisticated Grand Hall features elegant hist­oric touches like the original terrazzo floor, green glazed terrac­otta bricks, st­ain­ed glass windows and wooden carpentry. Among carefully re­stored de­tails, see the hand-crafted design of stained glass window. 3 women are depict­ed in Tiffany glass, representing the expanse of 1890s train travel from New York to St Louis to San Francisco, all linked.

The Train Shed, renovated

Now the hotel has fully re­n­ovated 539 spacious historical and modern suit­es. Many of the rooms acknow­ledge Union Stat­ion’s history with art and décor, depicting rail­road themes. And some suites offer views of the building’s historic side out over Market St. Another major upd­at­e is the restoration of the massive steel train shed. And enjoy a sky view from the neighb­our­ing 200’ St Louis Wheel, the wheel having 42 encl­os­ed gondola­s, each seating 8 adults.

The renewed Union St­ation is surrounded by St Louis’ loveliest att­ractions eg Peabody Opera House, Campbell House Museum, City Museum, Kiener Plaza and Gateway Arch. But the station is a treasure in its own right.

Union Station was the entrance for visitors to St. Louis, from 1894. 

Wiki

40 Objects 40 Years display, Freud Museum

In his essay Civilisation & its Discont­ents 1929, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) had analysed the aggressive cruelty that changed men into sa­vages. Aft­er Hit­ler took power in Germany in 1933, as much as he recog­nised these trends, Freud was reluctant to apply them to Vienna. Even when the Nazis burnt all the books in 1933 by hated authors, including Freud! Yet he supported his sons Oliver (1891–1969) & Ernst (1892–1970), to leave Ber­lin and to move to London in 1933.

I invite you to reread Freud's escape: Nazi Vienna->London 1938. Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Doll­fuss DID ban the Nazi Party in June 1933, but he was assassinated by local Nazis a year later. Even then desperately hoped that Doll­fuss’ succ­ess­or would continue policies of ind­ep­end­ence and basic decency. Why? Freud’s revol­u­t­ionary visions into the uncharted sub­conscious mind SHOULD have prepared him for the dark forces moving ahead.

Anna and dad Sigmund Freud, Vienna, 1920

Freud Museum, London

Sigmund didn't believe that Aus­tria would come under German rule! Yet in 1938 German soldiers were massing on Austria's border, annexing Austria into the 3rd Reich. Many Jews urgently fled to safety, but Freud was 81 and very ill with cancer; and U.K migration quotas remained inflex­ible.

Why had Freud not left Vienna quickly? Because he’d spent his apol­it­­ical life­ claiming that Nazi sturm and drang was mere noise, the outward man­i­festation of messy inner liv­es. Note Hitler appeared on the balcony of Vienna’s imper­ial Hof­­burg Palace to declare the Anschluss in March 1938 i.e absorption of Austria into the 3rd Reich. Vienna was fill­ed with excited Nazi sup­p­orters, thugs looted Jewish shops, damaged synagog­ues and attacked Jews. And ruined Freud’s International Psychoanalytic pub­lish­ing house.

While Freud believed in­sight would return to his be­loved cult­ur­ed Vienna, everyone in Freud’s circle tried to get him to leave. Note these fol­low­ers risked their OWN political capital, personal income and physic­al safety to save him. Anna Freud (1894-1982) had ministered to all her father’s needs while man­aging her own pioneering child psycho-analyst pract­ice. She dealt with the new Nazi overlords who were extort­ing money from notable Jews seeking to emig­rate. But she would never have left her dad. Physician-neurologist Ernest Jones (1879-1958) tire­lessly pro­moted Freud’s ideas in Europe. When he heard the threat to Freud, Jones flew to Vien­na to bend British immigration rules. US’s ambassador to France William Bullitt Jr (1891-1967) had been Freud’s patient in the 1920s. Their friendship devel­oped later, through collaborating on a Pres Wood­row Wilson biography; the U.S even demanded Freud’s safe release. Dr Max Schur was treating Freud’s jaw can­c­er. Schur’s loyalty was clear when he delayed his own family’s exit! 

Marie Bonaparte (1882-1962), grandniece of Napoleon & wife of Prince George of Greece-Denmark, had been Freud’s pat­ient be­fore she too became a psychoanalyst. She rushed to Vienna, paying the Nazis for Freud’s huge flight tax.

The refugees boarded the Orient Express in June 1938, 3 months after Hitler annexed Austria, and they noted that tension inten­sified as the train rolled through Ger­many via Munich and Dachau. At 3AM the train reached the border where the Ger­man bor­der guards glan­ced at his docum­ents, then into France with Bonaparte, then continuing to London.

Freud's four sisters in Vienna 1941

Holocaust Historical Society

Of Freud’s children, Anna and Martin had been taken by the Gestapo, but lived. Freud’s 4 sisters Rosa, Marie, Pauline & Adolfine stayed and were exterm­inated.

Freud's home in Maresfield Gardens, Hampstead

Later the Freud Museum

Note the Blue Heritage Plaques

The remaining Freuds moving to London, in Maresfield Gardens Hampstead in July. They brought their belongings, AND an amazing intellectual world. Freud spent the last year of his life with the objects that shaped his views about mental health. His London study has been preserved just as he left it, including thousands of books. And he avidly collected 2,500 Egyptian, Greek & Roman figures, & Asian artefacts that showed his interest in ancient life.

In London Freud was too ill to work and died with a year. Anna, a pioneering child psychologist, continued to live there until her death in 1982. According to her wishes, it opened as a permanent Museum in July 1986, with the entire contents of her father’s study and library left intact. So let’s visit Freud’s home-museum in London this year.

Freud's psychoanalytic couch surrounded by his books and art objects

Freud Museum

 

Freud’s couch from Vienna came in 1938 because it had been the centre of his psycho-analysis practice, blurring the line between work and home. Thus the couch had been essential in recreating end-of-century atmosphere Vienna, remaining in Freud’s study in the London Museum today. And explore the amazing books and collectibles next to the couch.

The exhibition, Protected: 40 Objects 40 Years, displays the life & work of the great Freud family marking the Museum’s 40th anniversary. Novelist Esther Freud and others from the world of culture & psychoanalysis have chosen objects from Museum archives to celebrate the event. These objects tell the story of the Museum, the history of psychoanalysis and of exiled family life. Esther Freud chose a young letter from her dad-artist Lucian Freud (Sigmund’s grandson), who wrote to his parents (Ernst Freud & Lucie Brasch) whilst he was away at English boarding school. Some of the artefacts were hidden from sight in the museum’s attic and are being shown for the first time in a collection curated by Briony Davis. One of the pieces on display is a metal porcupine, a momento of Freud’s trip to the USA in 1909, picked as a reflection on confusions of intimacy. See animal figures in relief, chosen by Neuberger, who was fascinated to find such an item in Freud’s personal collection.

One wall of Freud's library

Freud Museum, London

 

See a C13th copper Chanukah lamp, featuring a Hebrew inscription about light from Proverbs. The psychoanalyst was famously ambivalent about his Jewish heritage so this lamp was probably never lit by him; rather it was and appreciated as a cultural and historical artefact, not religious.

 

Chanukah lamp with 3 animal medals and Hebrew letters in relief

13th century, Northern France or Germany

The Freud Museum London

Following Freud’s own vision, the Museum Director’s aim was to create chances for everyone to learn about and from psychoanalysis. They urged the cultural commentators to be wide-ranging in their choices, about the past of course and also about the contemporary relevance of their chosen object. Other objects on display include a battered leather suitcase belonging to the Freuds’ live-in maid Paula Fichtel and the hand-written recipe book belonging to Freud’s wife Martha for Viennese apple strudel etc. And see Anna’s sewing machine and her patterns for cardigans, plus her embroidery and lacework. She saw weaving and embroidery invaluable crafts, alongside the serious work of psychoanalysis.

The exhibition is presenting lectures and tours in the anniversary year, and they are also building the Freuds’ beloved garden into a mental health refuge.

 

Captain Eric Ravilious, WW2 art

London-born Eric Ravilious (1903-42) spent his early years in Eastbourne E. Sussex and won a scholarship to attend the Eastbourne School of Art in 1919. Later he enrolled at Royal College of Art London where he studied under Paul Nash, a War Artist in WW1. Later Ravilious worked as a painter, book illustrator and Wedgwood pottery designer.

With war starting in 1939, he joined the Royal Observer Corps based in Castle Hedingham Essex. Ravilious was one of the first official War Artists to be appointed by War Artists Advisory Committee-WAAC in Dec 1939, and in 1940 as a Captain. Established by the Ministry of Information, WAAC was a government body commissioning artists to record WW2 events. From 1940-2, Ravilious produced dramatic water colours & drawings of ships, aircraft and coastal defences, 50 of them now in the Imperial War Museums/IWM. 

A warship in dock, 1940

In Feb 1940, Ravilious was posted to Chatham Dockyard Kent to document the naval barracks’ factories & buildings. In A Warship in Dock 1940, Ravilious showed the bow of a destroyer in a flooded dry dock, tied down with many ropes. A man on deck holds one of the ropes while three other men board the ship via a gang-way on the port side. Shown from ground level, the warship looks menacing with angular marine camouflage and intimidating colossal scale. In the background there were many structures eg a ship crane and a factory with a smoking chimney. Despite the scene’s calming water in the flooded dock and vivid blue of the sky overhead, they were preparing for a country at war.

After Germany invaded Norway in Ap 1940, seizing Oslo and the main ports, the Allied forces tried to counter-attack on land but were under-equipped and out-numbered. In May troop evacuation from the Narvik port, Operation Alphabet, was authorised. Aircraft carriers HMS Glorious and HMS Ark Royal left Scapa Flow in Scotland in late May to assist with the withdrawal, escorted by 5 destroyers.

Ravilious was aboard HMS Highlander where the carrier’s dazzling camouflage was mimicked in the sea under the Arctic light. RAF Hurricanes from 2 squadrons flew around, riskily preparing to land on the deck of HMS Glorious, evacuated from the Norwegian Air Station. Next day HMS Glorious returned to Scapa Flow but was attacked by German battleships and sunk. 1,500+ souls tragically died.

Coastal Defences, 1940

The artist travelled to E.Newhaven Sussex in late 1940, to paint coastal defences. The port was targeted in Operation Sea Lion, a planned invasion of Britain by German forces, and needed heavy fortific-ation. In this scene, he depicted the semi-circular curve of the Coastline Defences 1940 in dark greens and blues, colours repeated in the sea and sky. In contrast, the searchlight was stark white, cutting through the night sky looking for enemy aircraft. See a row of boats speeding out to sea at the centre of the scene, leaving a stream of white as they moved in the water. The constant threat to Newhaven from above and below was clear.

He showed the moment a 9.2” naval gun fired from Dover's front port, a portrayal of spectacle and awe. A group of 5 artillerymen were shown as ghost-like figures, compared to the luscious greens of the front landscape. Ravilious spent mid 1941 in Dover before moving to Dundee Scotland.

Ravilious arrived at the Royal Naval Air Station/RNAS in Dundee in autumn 1941 and was quickly interested in the Supermarine Walrus seaplane. In this scene, 3 Walrus aircraft were floating on the river outside the station’s sick bay. The artist showed the interior which was not overly comfortable; just for convalescence. But the blue and white bedding with anchor motif conveyed a sense of homeliness in this stark environment. During his time at the RNAS, the pilots allowed Ravilious to fly in the air craft. After he successfully transferred from the Admiralty to the RAF.

De-Icing Aircraft, 1942

In March 1942 Ravilious was based at RAF Clifton airfield in York. He enjoyed flying over the city, observing York Minster from above and spotting abbeys and ruins. In De-Icing Aircraft 1942, Ravilious showed the airfield under endless snow. Men were scraping the ice layers from the wing of a de Havilland Dragon Rapide, a twin-engine biplane used for training purposes. Each engine had a fitted cover, protecting against harsh temperatures. And see another plane’s tail also covered in ice & snow, waiting to be fixed by the crew.

5 Spitfires at Sawbridgeworth, 1942.

In Mar 1942, Eric Ravilious’ wife and fellow artist Tirzah Garwood developed serious health problems, returning towards home. He went to RAF Sawbridgeworth Airfield Herts which was relatively close to their family home. Despite his terrible living conditions, Ravilious enjoyed painting everyday life on the airfield in early 1942, including aircraft in flight, never using oil paints in the war. Ravilious depicted Five Spitfires at Sawbridgeworth, 1942 at the base, but Spitfires were not at the site then.

Operation Room, 1942

Operations Room 1942 was a key war painting, acquired by IWM decades later. The watercolour depicted the interior of the airfield’s mobile operations room. It is decorated with light yellows and blue-greens, synonymous with functional WW2 buildings. Relaxing colour palettes were selected to be easy for workers inside for long periods. Large windows enabled a panoramic view of the airfield and a sector clock hung on the wall helped track air craft movements. There was no human in The Operations Room but human activity was detected; pinned notices under the clock, writing pen and ink on one table, and a blue reference folder on the other. Interestingly while at Sawbridgeworth, Ravilious wrote to his wife Tirzah in May 1942 stating “the weather gets finer all the time but I’m bored of pictures of planes on the ground and want to go flying.”

Ravilious soon flew to Reykjavik, driving to the RAF Kaldadarnes Airfield in Sept. From there he & 4 airmen flew on a rescue mission in a Lockheed Hudson and were lost off the Icelandic coast. Because his body wasn’t recovered, he had no grave; instead he was honoured at Chatham Navel Memorial Kent (above). Ravilious was one of three War Artists who died when his plane crashed, at 39. 

Thank you to the Imperial War Museum for the artworks and to the BBC for history.

UK's C19th model village: Saltaire

Titus Salt (1803-76) was born near Leeds, educated in Wakefield and served an apprenticeship with a wool-stapler in Wakefield. He moved to Bradford in 1821 with his parents & siblings at 18. In his years in Bradford he worked with William Rouse & Son, learning textile manufacture.

Titus’s father, Daniel, founded a Bradford business as a wool-stapler. In 1824, Titus joined his dad’s business, Daniel Salt and Son, expanding with a spinning business in Thornton Rd in 1834. By then Bradford was a magnet for people seeking work or a business; the city experienced a 78% population growth in 30 years due to the raw-wool-cloth industry. Alas Bradford mills flooded untreated industrial waste. 

Mill, Tripadvisor

In 1835 Titus Salt established his own business. He’d already used Eastern European wool and had secretly experimented with alpaca wool. By 1837 he found that by using alpaca as the weft, and cotton as the warp, he could produce fairly priced, durable lustrous cloth. He was the first maker of the new cloth & greatly expanded his Bradford business.

But to escape the polluted, crowded Bradford slums for greener pastures, he decided to relocate his business and his employees. Local architects Henry Lockwood & Richard Mawson planned a new community where Salt’s work force would be healthier, happier and productive. Work began in 1851 and continued for decades. Salt planned for a wide range of public buildings and amenities, so work soon started on Saltaire’s industrial community. In Aug 1854 Lockwood & Mawson hired contractors in the local press to erect a large dining hall opposite the mill with offices & kitchen. The Dining Hall fed the mill’s workforce, who lived outside.

The vast efficient textile factory was the first building done. Moved by Bradford workers’ poor lives and his religion, Salt created an industrial town in rural surroundings, named from Salt and from the River Aire in the village.

Titus purchased land near Shipley and the Mill opened with fanfare Sept 1853, Salt’s 50th birthday. The mill took in raw materials, to scour, wash, comb, draw, spin and weave, design and finish them into high quality cloth. Its 3,000 workers could produce 30,000 yards of cloth daily.

Workers' cottages, Wiki

 
Then they designed the entire village in a classical style a la Italian Renaissance. The Salts Mill and the decent houses were built from 1851-71 to allow workers to live decently, locating a large textile mill near Leeds-Liverpool Canal & railway; thus his raw materials and finished goods could be easily moved. Salt planned his workers’ village with public buildings that looked impressive and well designed for purpose. Lockwood & Mawson planned a new community where Salt’s workforce would be healthier, happier & productive. Work began 1851, until 1876. A vast and modern textile factory, the Mill, was ready first - Lockwood & Mawson designed it all. The finest work was Congregational Church, set in a spacious landscaped garden. The new church was opened in Ap 1859, a precious Victorian gem. It boasts important architectural and historical features; now the United Reformed Church is set in landscaped gardens.

Congregational Church, and later United Reformed Church 

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In 1886 Titus Salt Jr proposed an Arts Exhibition that could raise funds for a new building for Art-Science education & to honour dad. The Exhibition Building was completed in 1887. It housed 14 large class rooms, central hall and gallery:  Institute of Technology and now a site for Shipley College.

The Mausoleum built onto the church has Titus' remains. Although a committed Congregationalist, Titus was not restrictive about religious worship in his town. He didn't compel his workforce to attend a church. In Oct 1866, laying a stone for a new Wesleyan Chapel was celebrated. 

Factory School, opened 1868

now Shipley College Salts Building, x.com

The lofty hall gave space for the Factory School, church services, Sunday school, reading room & library. There was space for 500+ to attend social events, concerts, lectures on current issues & celebrations. The Factory Schools opened in 1868 on Victoria Rd, for 750 people. The classrooms had central heating, gas lighting and fitted cupboards.

Playgrounds behind the schools included covered areas for bad weather. Titus and his son Titus Jr were modern thinkers in establishing quality education, but the new school’s capacity was soon insufficient to meet children's needs. Space was made available for art and science education in the Saltaire Club and Institute opposite the schools.

Victoria Hall, Alarmy

Salt Schools on Victoria Rd, Institute and Victoria Hall were built by John Barry, opening 1871. The facilities were huge, containing a lecture hall seating 800, classrooms, 2 art rooms, chess rooms, laboratory, gym, library of 8,500 books, reading room and concert venue; their task was to provide a social club and an educational institute to supply the advantages of a public house without its evils. Its ornamental belltower is seen throughout the village. Titus was keen to see adults self-improving. Building the Factory Schools was followed by a grand project opposite the new school.

Salt Hospital, with hospital marker under top window

later converted to flats

2 storeyed Salt Hospital in Victoria Rd had an Infirmary and Dispensary, 6 beds and a surgery. As demand for its services grew, it began to provide treatment for the local community plus for mill workers, closing in 1979 to become flats.

The residential area covered 25+ acres, eventually consisting of 21 streets, 2 roads, 2 terraces & 4 places. 850 quality houses of varying sizes (2-7 bedrooms) were built in William Henry St, house occupancy dependant on ability to pay the graded rents. The houses ranged widely, all superior to working-class houses in nearby Bradford & Shipley. They had a proper drainage system; water & gas were supplied to each house, and each had a back yard and a private toilet. The streets were open-ended to let in sun and air. The shops included grocers, chemist, post office, butchers, hardware shops and retail facilities. Once complete, the village comprised 800+ high quality homes, two churches, school, park, adult education institute, hospital, baths, washhouse and 45 almshouses for the aged or infirmed, fronted by a peaceful trees and plants. Almhouse residents were selected by Salt in his lifetime and later by a board of trustees: these tenants lived rent free and received a weekly pension. 

Salt later improved conditions eg impressive Victoria Rd School site 1869. Rich outer architecture honoured educ-ation and the classes suited the 750 pupils. This big building was soon outgrown by Saltaire’s booming population. The Salt family lobbied for a new school and by 1878 it had been built. Not as charming, but big enough to cope with demand. This school is now part of Shipley College, Victoria Rd. Its Italianate richly carved architecture has columned loggias, round-topped windows, overhanging eaves, turret & school bell. The centre displays Salt’s coat of arms in a roundel surrounded by laurel leaves, scrolls and relief carvings. The school was for workers’ children, parks, boats and games. Leisure activities included a boys’ drum-&-fife band and brass band for village men. Titus Jr & wife strongly wanted education for the under-5s, leading to a separate pre-school.

With quality housing, employment, recreation, educational facilities and social services, the model town became an example of progressive C19th urban planning. The building was nearly done in 1871 when the census showed Saltaire had 755 houses and 45 alms houses, for 4,389 people.

Titus died in 1876 and was interred in the mausoleum beside the Congregational church. When his son Titus Salt Jr died in 1887, Saltaire was taken over by a partnership including Sir James Roberts from Haworth. Roberts had worked in wool mills since he was 11, had sizable business interests in Russia. Roberts came to own Saltaire, but chose to invest his money heavily in Russia, losing much money in the Russian Revolution. He endowed a chair of Russian at Leeds Uni and bought the Brontës' Haworth Parsonage for the nation. Roberts died in 1935 and was buried at Fairlight Sussex.

Saltaire Park, later Roberts Park

National Lottery Heritage Fund

Saltaire Park across the River Aire opened in C19th, designed and laid out by William Gay. The name changed in 1920 to Roberts Park when the second owner, Sir James Roberts, gifted the park to the local Council to honour his late son. The park, a key element of the model village, offered many leisure activities for the worker eg archery, croquet, cricket and pavilions. The northern portion has windy paths, landscaped gardens, pavilions, East Park lodge, promenade with shelters and Salt’s statue. And the original bandstand.

Saltaire retained ownership of the Mill until it was sold to Bradford Property Trust, 1933. The new owners arranged with Shipley Urban District Council for improvements eg new gas services, mains electricity, sewerage & sanitary services. It included a scheme to eliminate the waste-water toilets and the old type of coal store, and to erect new facilities, requiring the removal of 43 houses to open the village. In 2014 planning officers replaced front doors for historic ones.

Saltaire was selected for the World Heritage List in Dec 2001 and Europe’s Route of Industrial Heritage website as a fine example of a C19th model town demonstrating the social and economic impact of the textile industry. And it was recognised for its global influence on town planning. The model village’s buildings are individually listed with UNESCO, the highest honour going to Congregational church. UNESCO protects natural and cultural sites of global importance.

Salts Mill closed Feb 1986; Jonathan Silver bought it in 1987 to convert into a multi-functional site with an art gallery, cafes & technology company HQs. The art gallery had large rooms for Bradford-born artist David Hockney: paintings, drawings, photos, stagesets. Then book shops, art supplies, jewellery, sportswear, antiques, bicycles and housewares.

The Saltaire Collection in Shipley College has special books, documents, photos & historical objects. Note the research into residents/workers, the Salt & James Roberts families who built and sustained Salts Mill; photos & documents related to working in the mill and living in the village; legal and business documents; personal memoirs; maps; and crockery for Royal visits. The History Club has great lectures.

Saltaire, on the map of England

Credit: Salt & Light

In 2003 Saltaire Festival celebrated the city’s 150th anniversary, now held in Sept; Saltaire Arts Trail is a visual arts festival held in May. Credit to City of Bradford.

Sam Neill, brilliant films & tv series

Born Nigel Neill in 1947 in Omagh, Nth Ireland to an English mother and a New Zealand father serving in the British army. His family moved to Christchurch N.Z in 1954 where Sam went to school. He became Sam because there were several Nigels at school, saying “I moved more easily as a Sam”.

Sam Neill and Meryl Streep as Michael & Lindy Chamberlain,

Evil Angels, 1988

Sam Neill went on to study English literature and acting at Canterbury Uni. He began acting in Canberbury Uni productions, then moved to Wellington to the Downstage Theatre as a professional actor, being paid $35 a week. Neill acted in some tv films and shorts for New Zealand in the 70s before winning his first lead role in the locally produced thriller Sleeping Dogs 1977, receiving inter-national acclaim in the first New Zealand film to open in the US. Soon after that he landed a leading role in My Brilliant Career 1979 directed by Gillian Armstrong; played the son of the devil in Omen III 1981; in the  1988 biopic Evil Angels, as Lindy Chamberlain’s husband Michael with Meryl Streep; and in The Hunt for Red October 1990. His role in Ivanhoe 1982 boosted Neill in Sweden where the film’s on TV every New Year’s Day for 40 years. In fact he built his career as dashing romantic leads and magnetic villains. He truly arrived on the international film stage as Damien Thorn in Omen III.

 

Sam Neill & Judy Davis on My Brilliant Career, 1979 

Michael Ochs Archives

He soon moved to Australia, landing another internationally lauded role with My Brilliant Career 1979. He was one of the leading candidates to succeed Roger Moore as James Bond and screen-tested in 1986, but lost out to Timothy Dalton. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his spy role in the 1983 miniseries Reilly, Ace of Spies.

He went on to star in some films of varying success for the following 45 years, incl Dead Calm, Hunt for Red October and The Piano 1993. Neill came to widespread international attention in 1993 with his role as the New Zealand settler Alisdair Stewart in Jane Campion’s Oscar-winner The Piano. Neill, well known for his role as palaeontologist Dr Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park 1993, a role originally offered to Harrison Ford. Neill played Alan Grant again in two Jurassic Park sequels. 

My favourite was The Piano. In mid-C19th a mute woman went along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer in New Zealand, but was soon lusted after by a farmworker. Jane Campion was the director and it starred Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel & Sam Neill.

Dr Alan Grant and Tyrannosaurus Rex, Jurassic Park,1993, 

by Murray Close 

Neill shaped a career playing memorable romantic leads & captivating villains with 150+ credits in 50 years, incl Dead Calm 1989, Jungle Book 1994, In the Mouth of Madness 1995, Event Horizon 1997, Bicentennial Man 1999, The Dish 2000 and Peter Rabbit 2018. Neill also worked on tv, incl miniseries Merlin 1998. The Tudors mini-series 2007, as the corrupt Maj Chester Campbell in Peaky Blinders tv drama 2013 and The Twelve miniseries 2022.

Sam Neil and Holly Hunter, The Piano

Sam Neill was the New Zealand actor whose career spanned Oscar winners and famous films, so he dreaded any prospect of retirement. He won Officer of the Order of the British Empire 1991 for his services to acting and a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2007. Years later, the New Zealand’s honours system allowed recipients to convert his Order of Merit into a knighthood, Sir Sam accepted a knighthood in 2022.

Actor Rachel Griffiths, who cast Neill as Michelle Payne’s horse trainer father in her directorial debut Ride Like A Girl, also commented on social media. Two Paddocks is the label under which Neill has been making wine for decades, a pursuit he took as seriously as acting. When not working, Neill split his later years between his Surry Hills home and his farm in New Zealand, where he kept rescue animals and produced wine from his vineyard. Based in Central Otago Sth Island, it created classy pinot noirs and average Picnic range.

Aust Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on X mourned Neill’s passing. “Sam starred in so many beloved Australian stories and he earned a special place in Australian hearts. Wry and thoughtful, Sam fought illness with the same dignity, humour & conviction that gave strength to his performances.

New Zealand prime minister Christopher Luxon said “Sam started out when there was barely a film industry in this country to speak of. For 50+ years he took New Zealand stories to the world and his talents helped make our film industry into what it is today, one of our greatest cultural exports. His work will be watched and loved long after us.” NZ’s foreign affairs minister Winston Peters said Neill was a Kiwi icon whose work in both local & Hollywood films entertained people globally for decades.

In 2023 Neill’s memoir, Did I Ever Tell You About This? revealed he'd been undergoing chemo-therapy for a year after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma blood cancer. By the time his Memoirs were published in March 2023 his cancer was in remission, but he underwent monthly chemotherapy for the rest of his life; he signed a contract with the drug company that if he was alive in 4 months, the treatment was free. Neill explained it was an aggressive form of blood cancer with fewer than half of those diagnosed surviving 5+ years. But it this was not the cause of death.

He wrote that he later went into remission after undergoing a trial with a new chemotherapy drug. In 2023 he wrote “I’m not afraid to die, but it would annoy me. Because I’d really like another decade or two. We’ve built all these lovely terraces, we’ve got these olive trees and cypresses, and I want to be around to see it all mature. And I’ve got my 6 lovely little grandchildren. I want to see them get big.”

The extended family group shared the tragic news of Sam’s passing in July in Sydney. Surrounded by family and passing with dignity, Sam was survived by 4 children & 8 grandchildren.

Martin Ferrero, Sir Richard Attenborough, Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill, Laura Dernin Jurassic Park,

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