DOCSLIB.ORG

An English Affair: Sex, Class and Power in the Age of Profumo Free

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
An English Affair: Sex, Class and Power in the Age of Profumo Free FREE AN ENGLISH AFFAIR: SEX, CLASS AND POWER IN THE AGE OF PROFUMO PDF Richard Davenport-Hines | 352 pages | 10 Sep 2013 | HarperCollins Publishers | 9780007435852 | English | London, United Kingdom Profumo affair | British political scandal | Britannica By Craig Brown for the Daily Mail. The Profumo Affair is generally seen as the great watershed between the old and the new. Peer closer Class and Power in the Age of Profumo the private tragedy of Macmillan and his faithless wife could have been created by Thomas Hardy. Early on, Macmillan had vowed never to allow her a divorce, and to commit suicide if she ever left him. But somehow, his deep hurt had fuelled the drive for his worldly success. To recount it once more: Jack Profumo was the suave, ambitious Minister for War, who seemed to have everything — vast wealth, a glamorous wife, a rocketing career. Covering his tracks: John 'Jack' Profumo resigned from his post of Secretary of State for War in as a result of misleading the House of Commons about the nature of his relationship with Christine Keeler. The two of them had a fling. For Profumo, she was nothing more than a discreet bit on the side. The only trouble was that Christine Keeler was singularly lacking in discretion. One thing led to another and soon the press got wind of the affair. The ripples of the story spread wider and wider. An English Affair: Sex soon began to seem as though anyone who was anyone had been to bed with either Christine Keeler Class and Power in the Age of Profumo her even more fun-loving friend, Mandy Rice-Davies, or both. He was a playboy, slippery and charming and much given to schmoozing: he wanted everyone to have a good time. So instead he was charged with procuring women and living off immoral earnings. The police leaned on witnesses to ensure a successful prosecution; overnight, his name became a byword for wickedness. Following his conviction, Stephen Ward took a fatal overdose. The press, as you may have gathered, were every bit as spiteful and sanctimonious as everyone else — politicians, police, society grandees — involved in this squalid affair. But it was also about much more than the Titanic, just as this one is about much more than the Profumo Affair. In both books, he uses the central event as a way of revealing the undercurrents in society at the time. Over the past few years, I had begun to think that too much has been made of the Profumo Affair, and that its endless knee-jerk referencing by historians and journalists to encapsulate the end of an era was simply lazy. But reading An English Affair has convinced me that it does indeed represent a decadent society in microcosm. Just as one can see the whole world in a grain of sand, so one can see the whole Macmillan era in the sorry tale of Jack Profumo. Davenport-Hines is particularly good in Class and Power in the Age of Profumo under-explored territory of those grim Fifties property tycoons such as Peter Rachman and Charles Clore, both of whom had had affairs with Keeler and Rice-Davies. This was a time when the Home Office was secretly urging the suppression of the news that antibiotics could now cure the two main venereal diseases. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. Argos AO. Comments 0 Share what you think. More top stories. Bing Site Web Enter search term: Search. Back to top Home News U. - An English Affair: Sex, Class and Power in the Age of Profumo I t was called a sex scandal but An English Affair: Sex sex itself seems to have been boring — "pre-fabricated sex, deep-freeze sex" the novelist Sybille Bedford called it. Christine Keeler was "disappointingly dull in bed", one lover reported, and she has admitted that she "never really enjoyed it". Given the men she slept with, that's not surprising. Peter Rachman had a phobia about dirt and secretions, and saw sex as the equivalent of cleaning one's teeth — "I was the toothpaste," Keeler said. Charles Clore wanted it quick, with no niceties; if a girl hadn't been procured for him as part of a business deal, he would grope Class and Power in the Age of Profumo was sitting next to him at dinner. As for John Profumo, a relentless flirt with a line in tight trousers "surely there Class and Power in the Age of Profumo be some way of concealing your penis," his wife complainedhe wooed Keeler briefly, over one summer, between his duties as war secretary; in the biopic of the affair, ScandalJoanne Whalley, playing Keeler, quietly yawns while he pumps away. If sex wasn't the real issue in the Profumo affair, what An English Affair: Sex That's the question Richard Davenport-Hines addresses on the 50th anniversary of an episode that ended Profumo's parliamentary career and led to the prime minister, Harold Macmillan, stepping down shortly afterwards. His book is devastating about the patriarchal double standards of the early 60s — and a useful antidote to the current nostalgia for the period between the Suez crisis An English Affair: Sex the Beatles' first LP. The main events are well known. Profumo and Keeler met one Saturday in the grounds of Cliveden when he was staying with the Astor family and she was weekending in the cottage informally leased by Bill Astor to the osteopath and dilettante Stephen Ward. Captivated by the sight of Keeler frolicking in the Cliveden swimming pool, Profumo asked for her number, and Ward, whose west London flat she shared albeit as a friend rather than a loverhappily obliged. In the early 60s, at the height of the cold war, the possibility that a British government minister and a Soviet official had shared An English Affair: Sex same lover was alarming in the extreme to the authorities. And though Profumo entrusted Keeler Class and Power in the Age of Profumo no state secrets, the security issue became an excuse for the press to go big on the story when after a chapter of chaotic but unrelated events involving drugs, an ex-lover, a knife fight and a gun attack Keeler along with her friend Mandy Rice-Davies spilled the beans to the Sunday Pictorial. The minister, the spy, the pimp and the call girls: the story was too good to miss. Keeler and Rice-Davies denied being prostitutes. They'd met while working as bar hostesses at a club called Murray's and had also done a bit of modelling. Both were very young Keeler was 19 when she met Profumo, Rice-Davies two years younger. But they moved in a world of seedy tycoons whose idea of romance was to bribe women with gifts then set up them in flats as mistresses. Perhaps it's no coincidence that three of these men — Class and Power in the Age of Profumo, Clore and Jack Cotton — were property developers or landlords. The welfare state was meant to have banished spivs. But a new generation Class and Power in the Age of Profumo merchant adventurers were emerging who, as Davenport-Hines puts it, transformed the capital "with a brutal phallic modernity". By day, they defeated planning officers to push through building schemes or run rent rackets; by night they defied moralising prudes in the cause of libertinism. Stephen Ward was no more a pimp than Keeler and Rice-Davies were street workers. But osteopathy lacked the cachet of other branches of medicine, and because of his relentless socialising, his loose tongue and his ambiguous sexual status some who met him thought he was gayhe became the chief scapegoat in the affair. He was friends with everyone — until the scandal broke and they deserted him. Under Section 23 of the Sexual Offences Act, a person who introduced a woman under 21 to someone with whom she then had a sexual relationship could be charged, as Ward was, with "procuration". He was also accused of living off immoral earnings, even though it was he who subsidised Keeler, not the other way about. The prosecution at his trial was led by Mervyn Griffith-Jones, prosecuting counsel at the Lady Chatterley obscenity trial three years earlier: like DH Lawrence, Ward was said to have plumbed "the very depths of lechery and depravity". Griffith-Jones spoke of a two-way mirror, through which voyeurs could get their kicks. That Ward's flat had no such mirror was beside the point. After the judge's hostile summing up, he knew he'd be found guilty and pre-empted the verdict by taking an overdose of barbiturates, from which he died three days later. Lord Denning's report into the Profumo affair, in the wake of the trial, was no less determined to pin the blame on Ward. Davenport-Hines finds it "awash with the spite of a lascivious, conceited old man" who derived a prurient excitement from interviewing Keeler and Rice-Davies about their sex lives, then pilloried them as sluts. The police were also culpable in stitching Ward up, tapping his phone and interviewing witnesses in what was less an investigation than a witch-hunt. After two days' detention, during which she was body-searched and had her pubic hair shaved, she finally gave them what they needed. The press come out of it badly, too. The technology might have been different but most of the excesses identified by Leveson in were evident 50 years ago — not just chequebook journalism and intrusions into privacy but the use of newspapers to pursue vendettas on behalf of their owners.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Profumo Affair in Popular Culture: the Keeler Affair (1963) and 'The
    Contemporary British History ISSN: 1361-9462 (Print) 1743-7997 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/fcbh20 The Profumo affair in popular culture: The Keeler Affair (1963) and ‘the commercial exploitation of a public scandal’ Richard Farmer To cite this article: Richard Farmer (2016): The Profumo affair in popular culture: The Keeler Affair (1963) and ‘the commercial exploitation of a public scandal’, Contemporary British History, DOI: 10.1080/13619462.2016.1261698 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13619462.2016.1261698 © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Published online: 29 Nov 2016. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 143 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=fcbh20 Download by: [University of East Anglia Library] Date: 16 December 2016, At: 03:30 CONTEMPORARY BRITISH HISTORY, 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13619462.2016.1261698 OPEN ACCESS The Profumo affair in popular culture: The Keeler Affair (1963) and ‘the commercial exploitation of a public scandal’ Richard Farmer Department of Film, Television and Media Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK ABSTRACT KEYWORDS This article demonstrates that the Profumo affair, which obsessed Profumo affair; satire; Britain for large parts of 1963, was not simply a political scandal, but cinema; Christine Keeler; was also an important cultural event. Focussing on the production scandal of The Keeler Affair, a feature film that figured prominently in contemporary coverage of the scandal but which has been largely overlooked since, the article shows that this film emerged from a situation in which cultural entrepreneurs, many of them associated with the satire boom, sought to exploit the scandal for financial gain.
    [Show full text]
  • Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} When the Heart Lies by Christina North 7 Things That Make up a Christian Heart
    Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} When the Heart Lies by Christina North 7 Things That Make Up a Christian Heart. Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” This verse is saying that you must have honesty within your heart. Be true to yourself and those around you – and you’ll discover that your heart will guide you when you’re feeling left astray or at bay from everything that’s near and dear to you. Always listen to your heart because it will help to cultivate your decisions between right and wrong. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding,” This verse is conveying the desperate need for faith within your heart. There will be challenging times that cause you to question your faith and your overall belief system; however, it’s important to have faith within your heart. When you find yourself in doubt, look to your heart to guide you into the right direction. If you have these seven elements within your heart, you’ll find that your life is much fuller – full of happiness, love and the Lord. Everyone’s heart has many other qualities and attributes that furnish their individuality however, these seven elements are the core to a Christian heart. Christine Keeler obituary: the woman at the heart of the Profumo affair. There were many victims of the Profumo affair, the sex and spying scandal that dominated the headlines in 1963, contributed to the resignation of the then prime minister, Harold Macmillan, soon afterwards, and still looms disproportionately large in the history of modern Britain.
    [Show full text]
  • Housing, Equality and Choice
    housing 21/8/03 11:43 am Page A HOUSING, EQUALITY AND CHOICE Chris Holmes housing 21/8/03 11:43 am Page B 30-32 Southampton Street, London WC2E 7RA Tel: 020 7470 6100 Fax: 020 7470 6111 [email protected] www.ippr.org Registered charity 800065 The Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr), established in 1988, is Britain’s leading independent think tank on the centre left. The values that drive our work include delivering social justice, deepening democracy, increasing environmental sustainability and enhancing human rights. Through our well-researched and clearly argued policy analysis, our publications, our media events, our strong networks in government, academia and the corporate and voluntary sector, we play a vital role in maintaining the momentum of progressive thought. ippr’s aim is to bridge the political divide between the social democratic and liberal traditions, the intellectual divide between the academics and the policy makers and the cultural divide between the policy-making establishment and the citizen. As an independent institute, we have the freedom to determine our research agenda. ippr has charitable status and is funded by a mixture of corporate, charitable, trade union and individual donations. Research is ongoing, and new projects being developed, in a wide range of policy areas including sustainability, health and social care, social policy, citizenship and governance, education, economics, democracy and community, media and digital society and public private partnerships. For further information you can contact ippr’s external affairs department on [email protected], you can view our website at www.ippr.org and you can buy our books from Central Books on 0845 458 9910 or email [email protected].
    [Show full text]
  • King Mob Echo: from Gordon Riots to Situationists & Sex Pistols
    KING MOB ECHO FROM 1780 GORDON RIOTS TO SITUATIONISTS SEX PISTOLS AND BEYOND BY TOM VAGUE INCOMPLETE WORKS OF KING MOB WITH ILLUSTRATIONS IN TWO VOLUMES DARK STAR LONDON ·- - � --- Printed by Polestar AUP Aberdeen Limited, Rareness Rd., Altens Industrial Estate, Aberdeen AB12 3LE § 11JJJDJJDILIEJMIIENf1r 1f(Q) KIINCGr JMI(Q)IB3 JECCIHI(Q) ENGLISH SECTION OF THE SITUATIONIST INTERNATIONAL IF([J)IF ffiIE V ([J) IL lUilII ([J) W §IFIEIEIIJ) IHIII§il([J) ffiY ADDITIONAL RESEARCH BY DEREK HARRIS AND MALCOLM HOPKINS Illustrations: 'The Riots in Moorfields' (cover), 'The London Riots', 'at Langdale's' by 'Phiz' Hablot K. Browne, Horwood's 1792-9 'Plan of London', 'The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle', 'Oliver Twist Manifesto' by Malcolm McLaren. Vagrants and historical shout outs: Sandra Belgrave, Stewart Home, Mark Jackson, Mark Saunders, Joe D. Stevens at NDTC, Boz & Phiz, J. Paul de Castro, Blue Bredren, Cockney Visionaries, Dempsey, Boss Goodman, Lord George Gordon, Chris Gray, Jonathon Green, Jefferson Hack, Christopher Hibbert, Hoppy, Ian Gilmour, Ish, Dzifa & Simone at The Grape, Barry Jennings, Joe Jones, Shaun Kerr, Layla, Lucas, Malcolm McLaren, John Mead, Simon Morrissey, Don Nicholson-Smith, Michel Prigent (pre-publicity), Charlie Radcliffe, Jamie Reid, George Robertson & Melinda Mash, Dragan Rad, George Rude, Naveen Saleh, Jon Savage, Valerie Solanas, Carolyn Starren & co at Kensington Library, Mark Stewart, Toko, Alex Trocchi, Fred & Judy Vermorel, Warren, Dr. Watson, Viv Westwood, Jack Wilkes, Dave & Stuart Wise Soundtrack: 'It's a London Thing' Scott Garcia, 'Going Mobile' The Who, 'Living for the City' Stevie Wonder, 'Boston Tea Party' Alex Harvey, 'Catholic Day' Adam and the Ants, 'Do the Strand' Roxy Music', 'Rev.
    [Show full text]
  • Brian Klug What Do We Mean When We Say 'Antisemitsm'?
    Brian Klug What Do We Mean When We Say ‘Antisemitsm’? Echoes of shattering glass Proceedings / International conference “Antisemitism in Europe Today: the Phenomena, the Conflicts” 8–9 November 2013 Organized by the Jewish Museum Berlin, the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” and the Center for Research on Antisemitism Berlin BRIAN KLUG What Do We Mean When We Say ‘Antisemitism’? 1 Brian Klug What Do We Mean When We Say ‘Antisemitism’? Echoes of shattering glass Guten abend. Let me begin by apologizing for the fact that those might be the only words in German that you hear from me this evening. I really have no excuse. I learned German – twice: once at the University of Vienna and again at the University of Chicago. And I forgot it – twice. Which goes to show that Klug by name does not necessarily mean Klug by nature. I grew up in London. My parents spoke Yiddish at home, which should have given me a solid foundation for speaking German. But, like many Jewish parents of their generation, they did so in order not to be understood by the children. And they succeeded. So, thank you, in advance, for listening. Let me also express my thanks to my hosts for their invitation, especially for inviting me to speak here and now: here, in Berlin, at the Jewish Museum, an institution that I admire immensely, and now, on the eve of the 75th anniversary of Pogromnacht, which took place across Nazi Germany and Austria on 9 November 1938. (In Britain, we still say ‘Kristallnacht’. I know and I respect the reasons why this word has been retired in Germany, and in my lecture tonight I shall use the name Pogromnacht.
    [Show full text]
  • Western Europe
    Western Europe Great Britain* JLHE PERIOD under review (July 1, 1962, to December 31, 1963) was an eventful one in British political and economic life. Economic recession and an exceptionally severe winter raised the number of unemployed in Jan- uary 1963 to over 800,000, the highest figure since 1939. In the same month negotiations for British entry into the European Common Market broke down, principally because of the hostile attitude of President Charles de Gaulle of France. Official opinion had stressed the economic advantages of union, but enthusiasm for the idea had never been widespread, and there was little disappointment. In fact, industrial activity rallied sharply as the year progressed. In March 1963 Britain agreed to the dissolution of the Federation of Rho- desia and Nyasaland, which had become inevitable as a result of the transfer of power in Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia to predominantly African governments and the victory of white supremacists in the elections in South- ern Rhodesia, where the European minority still retained power. Local elections in May showed a big swing to Labor, as did a series of par- liamentary by-elections. A political scandal broke out in June, when Secretary for War John Pro- fumo resigned after confessing that he had lied to the House of Commons concerning his relations with a prostitute, Christine Keeler. A mass of infor- mation soon emerged about the London demimonde, centering on Stephen Ward, an osteopath, society portrait painter, and procurer. His sensational trial and suicide in August 1963 were reported in detail in the British press. A report issued in September by Lord Denning (one of the Law Lords) on the security aspects of the scandal disposed of some of the wilder rumors of immorality in high places but showed clearly the failure of the government to deal with the problem of a concurrent liaison between the war minister's mistress and a Soviet naval attache.
    [Show full text]
  • Oxford DNB: January 2021
    Oxford DNB: January 2021 Welcome to the seventieth update of the Oxford DNB, which adds biographies of 241 individuals who died in the year 2017: 224 with their own entries and seventeen added to existing entries as 'co-subjects'. Of these new inclusions, the earliest born is the journalist Clare Hollingworth (1911-2017) and the latest born is the artist and photographer Khadija Saye (1992- 2017). Hollingworth is one of five centenarians included in this update, and Saye one of thirty-four new subjects born after the Second World War. The vast majority (169, or over 70%) were born in the 1920s and 1930s. Sixty-three of the new subjects who died in 2017 (or just over 26% of the cohort) are women. Twenty of the new subjects were themselves contributors to the dictionary. Forty-five of the new articles include portrait images. From January 2021, the Oxford DNB offers biographies of 64,071 men and women who have shaped the British past, contained in 61,745 articles. 11,870 biographies include a portrait image of the subject—researched in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery, London. As ever, we have a free selection of these new entries, together with a full list of the new biographies. Most public libraries across the UK subscribe to the Oxford DNB, which means you can access the complete dictionary for free via your local library. Libraries offer 'remote access' that enables you to log in at any time at home (or anywhere you have internet access). Elsewhere the Oxford DNB is available online in schools, colleges, universities, and other institutions worldwide.
    [Show full text]
  • Artistes Featured on the ‘Profumo the Musical’ CD
    Artistes featured on the ‘Profumo the Musical’ CD Michael Mclean as John Profumo Michael studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His theatrical career as an actor and director has literally taken him around the world, with tours to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, The Philippines, Norway, Europe and numerous seasons in London’s West End. His extensive credits include ‘Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd’, ‘Albin in La Cage Aux Folles’, ‘Jean Valjean in Les Miserables’, ‘Walter de Courcey in Chess’, and many others. In addition Michael has directed six separate productions of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ in Japan and national tours of ‘Chicago’ and ‘Evita’ in New Zealand. Michael has appeared in many British television and film roles and his recording credits include work with the London Symphony Orchestra, the London City Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra. He is also a regular broadcaster for BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4. Michael has been teaching singing for over twenty years and regularly gives master classes in both singing and audition techniques to amateur, professional and educational groups throughout the United Kingdom and in Europe. Annette Yeo as Valerie Hobson Annette was born in Kent, South East England, and began training as a classical singer at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. She trained at Mountview Theatre drama school and went on to her first West End theatre role in the award winning 'City of Angels'. Annette has had a long and successful career as a musical theatre actor and concert singer, performing in numerous West End shows including ; 'Les Miserables', 'The Phantom of the Opera', 'Kiss Me Kate' and 'Mamma Mia'.
    [Show full text]
  • That Man Stephen Ward
    Thomas Hyde That Man Stephen Ward Damian Thantrey baritone Nova Music Opera Ensemble George Vass conductor RES10197 Thomas Hyde That Man Stephen Ward One-man Opera by Thomas Hyde That Man Stephen Ward Libretto by David Norris 1. Scene 1: Consultation [10:12] Op. 8 (2006-07) 2. Scene 2: Conversation [9:07] Damian Thantrey baritone (Stephen Ward) 3. Scene 3: Congregation [10:03] Nova Music Opera Ensemble 4. Scene 4: Consternation [10:30] Kathryn Thomas flute Catriona Scott clarinet 5. Scene 5: Condemnation [10:42] Madeleine Easton violin Amy Jolly cello 6. Scene 6: Consummation [12:19] Timothy End piano & keyboard Jonny Grogan percussion Total playing time [62:57] George Vass conductor About That Man Stephen Ward: World premiere recording ‘[...] a score that deftly conjures up the songs and dances of the era, but also has an apt, brittle edge’ The Times ‘With a modest but punchy chamber ensemble conducted by George Vass, it turned small history into surprisingly large musical gestures’ Opera Now Synopsis Scene 4: Consternation A few minutes later. Johnny Edgecombe, an Scene 1: Consultation ex-boyfriend of Christine, furious at having Harley Street, London. 1963. been dumped by her, has shot at Ward’s Society osteopath Dr Stephen Ward is front door demanding to speak to Christine. attending to his patient Lord Bill Astor. Ward The police arrive to take names and statements. refers to their many mutual friends and the They turn a blind eye to the more distinguished meaning of friendship. But Bill asks for the guests, but notice there are a lot of girls about.
    [Show full text]
  • Forget Reaganreagan His Foreign Policy Was Right for His Time—Not Ours
    Our Lousy Generals Immigration Reformed American Pravda Sex, Spies & the ’60s ANDREW J. BACEVICH WILLIAM W. CHIP RON UNZ CHRISTOPHER SANDFORD MAY/JUNE 2013 IDEAS OVER IDEOLOGY • PRINCIPLES OVER PARTY ForgetForget ReaganReagan His foreign policy was right for his time—not ours $9.99 US/Canada theamericanconservative.com Meet Pope Francis The Pope from the End of the Earth This lavishly illustrated volume by bestselling author Thomas J. Craughwell commemorates the election of Francis—first Pope from the New World—and explores in fascinating detail who he is and what his papacy will mean for the Church. • Forward by Cardinal Seán O’Malley. • Over 60 full-color photographs of Francis’s youth, priesthood and journey to Rome. • In-depth biography, from Francis’s birth and early years, to his mystical experience as a teen, to his ministry as priest and bishop with a heart for the poor and the unflagging courage to teach and defend the Faith. • Francis’s very first homilies as Pope. • Supplemental sections on Catholic beliefs, practices and traditions. $22.95 978-1-618-90136-1 • Hardcover • 176 pgs American Conservative Readers: Save $10 when you use coupon code TANGiftTAC at TANBooks.com. Special discount code expires 8/31/2013. Available at booksellers everywhere and at TANBooks.com e Publisher You Can Trust With Your Faith 58 THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE 1-800-437-5876MAY/JUNE 2013 Vol. 12, No. 3, May/June 2013 22 28 51 COVER STORY FRONT LINES ARTS & LETTERS 12 Reagan, Hawk or Dove? 7 Defense spending isn’t 40 The Generals: American The right foreign-policy lessons defense strength Military Command From to take from the 40th president WILLIAM S.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes for Teachers by Miquette Roberts 2 1
    Lucian Freud 20 June – 22 September 2002 Sponsored by UBS Warburg Notes for Teachers by Miquette Roberts Lucian Freud The artist’s reputation Introduction Aged eighty this year, Lucian Freud, painter of portraits, nudes and some still lifes, continues to pursue a demanding schedule of work. It is now more than a decade since he was first acclaimed by the critic and historian Robert Hughes as ‘the greatest living realist painter’ and similar accolades have proliferated ever since. For example the press release for this exhibition tells us that he has ‘redefined portraiture’. Students should bear these claims in mind as they view the exhibition and try to decide for themselves why Freud’s work should be so highly valued. For their assessment to be meaningful, they need to consider the social and historical background to his painting, described in these pages, as well as comparing it with work by other artists on view at Tate Britain, Tate Modern and the National Portrait Gallery. This booklet is intended mainly for teachers of secondary students although primary teachers could adapt some of its themes. It includes two interviews, one with Sue Tilley who has modelled for the artist and the other with Mary Horlock, one of the curators of the exhibition. 1 This exhibition focuses on portraits and nudes. Think about these two genres. • What do you expect of a portrait? Why do you think it is such a popular genre? There is a long tradition in art of male artists painting beautiful naked women. You can find examples in the National Gallery, by Titian for instance.
    [Show full text]
  • THE TRIAL of CHRISTINE KEELER WRAPS BRISTOL SHOOT Political Drama Starring Sophie Cookson & James Norton Has Filmed Extensively at More Than 10 Key Bristol Locations
    NEWS: for immediate release THE TRIAL OF CHRISTINE KEELER WRAPS BRISTOL SHOOT Political drama starring Sophie Cookson & James Norton has filmed extensively at more than 10 key Bristol locations BRISTOL, 18th April 2019: Ecosse Films’ upcoming six-part drama The Trial of Christine Keeler for BBC One, which takes a fresh look at the 1960s ‘Profumo Affair’, has wrapped following 17 weeks of filming at The Bottle Yard Studios and a host of Bristol locations. The high-profile drama has been filming in the city since 3rd December 2018, with full production based at The Bottle Yard Studios that also accommodated purpose-built sets housed in 15,000 sq ft of space. These included the interiors of Wimpole Mews (Stephen Ward’s home) and Marylebone Police Station. Lead actors Sophie Cookson, James Norton, Ellie Bamber, Ben Miles and Emilia Fox have also been filming around the city at more than 10 locations that have recreated 1960’s London, including Bristol Central Library (which will double for the exterior of Marylebone Police Station), offices above St Nicholas’ Market (the War Office and MI5), the Wills Memorial Building (the House of Commons) and the Lord Mayor’s Mansion House (a Mayfair restaurant and hotel room). Filming has also taken place at Goldney Hall, City Hall, Caledonia Place, Berkley Square, Corn Street, Small Street and Broad Street as well as eight days at The Guildhall in Bath. The Trial of Christine Keeler filming on location outside Bristol Central Library (credit: Bristol Film Office) Kate Triggs, Executive Producer says: “It has been a delight to make The Trial of Christine Keeler in Bristol.
    [Show full text]