Tom Posted November 23, 2004 Share Posted November 23, 2004 Between 1862 and 1904 loads of French poets lived in London. Apollinaire used to nip down the Northern line to visit his girlfriend in Clapham. Mallarmé said he hated London when there was no fog and that grey sky is good because "God cannot see you". Rimbaud and Verlaine lived in sin.http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1354408,00.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letrangere Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Thanks for the very interesting link. And don't forget painters came too. I believe it was the Franco/Prussian war that prompted many - certainly Monet, Pissarro, Sisley - to take refuge in England. And there's another South London connection. Remember all those views of South Norwood painted by Sisley and of Dulwich by Pissarro? Several hang in the Musee d'Orsay (and elsewhere). You reference the poets appreciating the fog, how about Monet's stupendous series of views of Westminster on misty mornings and evenings? M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted November 24, 2004 Author Share Posted November 24, 2004 Didn’t realise some of them would have been escaping the war. Maybe also the way of life in London, including the fog, was part of the attraction. They could live how they wanted without the feeling that everyone knew what they were up to. Possibly why French people are attracted to London today, not that there’s much fog any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letrangere Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 They could live how they wanted without the feeling that everyone knew what they were up to. Perhaps that's why many of us - not just poets and painters - prefer to live "abroad"?M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Redman Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 No Fog - suggest they have a look at the impressionist painting of West Norwood railway station. ( Manet I believe)For the last 15 months before I left UK 'Les Fleurs du Mal' was indexed under gardening in Surbiton Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letrangere Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 No Fog - suggest they have a look at the impressionist painting of West Norwood railway station. ( Manet I believe)What is it about Norwood be it West or South, can anyone tell me? Why were the French Impressionists so attracted to the place? No fog either in Sisley's paintings of the area but plenty of snow. But that I can understand as snowscapes create the most beautiful light, which he captures perfectly. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 These arty types like to suffer! Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted November 25, 2004 Author Share Posted November 25, 2004 Did some research, but couldn't find out what specifically drew them to the area. Pissarro rented a house there while Monet rented in Kensington and then had a room at the Savoy. Obviously he didn't like to suffer.Found a critic who wrote that painting the suburbs and everyday life was what the impressionists did, and nothing much should be read into the fact they chose Norwood. They painted suburbs in France as well.A plug for the National Gallery - you can order a print of any picture in their collection from their website, including Pissarro's Fox Hill, Upper Norwood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted November 30, 2004 Author Share Posted November 30, 2004 Here's a link to that picture at the National Galleryhttp://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=NG6351 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diana Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Currently there is an exhibition of the family Pissarro at the Ashmolean in Oxford http://www.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/ash/exhibitions/exh068.html . What struck me was how ordinary the majority of Camille’s subjects were. Views of the back garden or the back of the house all painted in a very matter of fact way. Looking at them I felt I wanted to add something to them. His paintings of his family showed a much greater warmth and understanding. Diana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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