A Memorial to Emily Jane Morley
Memorial to Emily Jane Morley carved by BSA students, St Michael's, Blackheath. Source: Thanks to St Michael's Blackheath for allowing me to photograph and publish this image. |
Focusing on my life and adventures living south of the river near Deptford
Memorial to Emily Jane Morley carved by BSA students, St Michael's, Blackheath. Source: Thanks to St Michael's Blackheath for allowing me to photograph and publish this image. |
Humour and wit in the art of Alfred de Sauty…
Alfred de Sauty, Coming Over, early 1930's. |
I recently acquired this print by Alfred de Sauty entitled ‘Coming Over’ and it reminded me that I had been meaning to write a piece about his humorous side.
Alfred de Sauty, The Proposal, 1930's. |
Alfred de Sauty, Matrimony, 1930's. |
Alfred de Sauty, Divorce, 1930's |
Alfred de Sauty, The Proposal, Matrimony and Divorce, 1930's. |
During lockdown I
was emailed these three intriguing images which join to form a series. It’s s
satirical comment on the nature of business deals. It may well relate to the
cut throat nature of the way of doing business, a kind of brashness that De
Sauty would not have experienced first-hand before he went to Chicago in Autumn
1923. I would date this work from the early to the mid-1920’s, not long after
he moved across the Atlantic. It matches the style of works he produced whilst
still in the UK.
De Sauty produced three prints entitled The Proposal, Matrimony and Divorce, and have only just got back to looking at them (where does the time go?). These three works are related to business deals in America under 'marriage' related titles. Looking closely at 'Divorce' the money sacks have $ signs on them which confirms to me it is most likely a comment on business deals in America.
Alfred de Sauty, Floreat Chicago, 1935 or earlier, Smithsonian Museum.
They are quite
similar in style to his brilliant depictions of the growing metropolis of
Chicago which date to the mid 1930’s – about 10 years after his arrival in the
US.
Could the businessman be a self-portrait (or a portrait of someone in particular)? The figure holding the gun (a man in a woman's dress) might be representative of a forced marriage / business deal at gunpoint. The businessman appears to be giving up everything to get the deal (even though he is at gun point). Of course, the woman isn't what she seems to be for the rather unusual gunpoint proposal and is depicted wearing high heels as part of the deceit. In the other two (Matrimony and Divorce) he / she is now wearing boots; perhaps revealing their true character.
The businessman is
chained to the man / woman holding his goods (designs?) under his arm in
Matrimony. Once the sinister the figure has got what they wanted (bags of
dollars) they then divorce / break the deal with the businessman by kicking him
away.
This could well be a comment on him finishing work at RR Donnelly & Sons (Lakeside Press) in Chicago but cannot be sure as there is very little known about De Sauty's personal life.
Rockwell Kent & Alfred de Sauty, De Sauty's Bad Dream, My Yours be Better, 1931.
More can be found about it through Underhill Books - here
De Sauty also
worked closely with Rockwell Kent - and there is a piece signed by both De
Sauty and Kent which makes me think that he had a rather wicked sense of humour
(see above). Kent illustrated Moby Dick and De Sauty worked with Kent at the
Lakeside Press binding his illustrated books (esp. N by E in
1930). The drawing shows various characters riding on and attacking Moby Dick and is a new
year’s wish for the year ending 1930 and beginning 1931. Are the characters on
the whale a part of De Sauty’s nightmare? ‘The piece is inscribed ‘De Sauty’s
Bad Dream May Yours be better in 1931.’
Certainly, the seemingly brash world of American business deals and contracts at this time must have been something completely different to De Sauty's experiences in London. It must have affected him and inspired these fantastic images.
It’s been a while since I have added something to the blog
and thought that it was about time that I got around to doing so. Nelson was
best known in his lifetime as a black and white illustrator and ex-libris
designer for wealthy clients and organizations.
One of my questions about his working method was whether he
re-used image or had a design book that potential patrons could choose what
they would like for their personalized ex-libris. He did indeed re-use images
which I will delve into further detail at a later date. I have decided on this
occasion to focus on his images of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and the arts,
she was the counsel of Odysseus during his Odyssey. At the time of the
French Revolution Athena began to stand for Freedom and Liberty.
Nelson depicted Athena a number of times through his career
and must have been interested in depicting her as she had become seen as the
Goddess of the Arts. I have included some examples below from sketches, design
drawings and finally to ex libris bookplates.
This exquisite drawing features Athena in the centre flanked
by water nymphs. I am not entirely sure whether this was later developed into a finished
image.
Design drawing for the Strand Magazine. Here Athena, in
armour ready for battle, is depicted to the right of the drawing. Below Athena
is written ‘Fact’ an allusion that she stands for wisdom and knowledge. I am unsure whether this design was ever used in print.
A sketch for Athena (most likely to have made for an
ex-libris design for a library or book collector), depicted holding a book and
a spear. Behind her are the leaves of the olive tree.
This image of Athena with her sword and lantern was also used
by Nelson for the National Union of Teachers. Athena is entwined in an olive
tree, representative of the one that grew on the Acropolis. The scroll behind
Athena has ‘Vince Fide’ (Conquer with Faith) inscribed on it.
Here is the above image used as the logo for The National
Union of Teachers. The main discernible difference is the inscription on the
scroll. As they are undated I am not entirely sure which came first.
This is such an
appropriate representation of Athena for the Bedford College Library. Here she
is within an olive tree with an owl on her right shoulder and a lantern in her
left hand. Books, source of knowledge, are scattered at the bottom of the
ex-libris.
This is a more serious stoic representation of Athena for a potential ex-libris patron as there is no name included in the design (it is included in Nelson’s 1929 volume of bookplates). Athena holds a shield and spear, standing in front of classical architecture (the Acropolis?) and an owl appears in an olive branch in front of the goddess.
As these images are all from my own collection, I am sure
there must be other variations in existence from Nelson’s career. Hopefully I
can add other images as I discover them. His works are quite accessible and a
good way to get into black and white illustration in late nineteenth and early
twentieth century Britain.
January 2018 |
January 2019
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February 2019
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December 2017 |