In Saturday’s Guardian Review section Michael Prodger wrote about Eric Ravilious who was a World War 2 war artist who didn’t survive the conflict. You can read the article here. I’ve always loved his art but all I have of his is a Wedgwood dinner plate which was designed by him. Prodger seems to think that Ravilious’s paintings of England were of a place which never really existed but the Train Landscape above brings back memories for me of sitting in a train compartment exactly like that one, going to visit an aunt in Sussex. The only difference is that the chalk figure picked out on the hillside was the Long Man of Wilmington, not a horse. You can see more work by Ravilious here.
Sarah Crompton writes about Poldark, old and new, here.
And if you’re interested in Orson Welles and particularly Citizen Kane you might be interested in reading this article by Peter Bradshaw.
I loved our train ride from Paris to London and then from London up to Edinburgh for SD’s wedding. We didn’t have a private compartment like the one in the picture, but the countryside from London to Edinburgh was so lovely. (Most of the Paris/London run up was in the chunnel and to be honest, when the lights went out, so did I!)
Pearl,
I don’t think those compartments exist any more, I liked them but they usually weren’t attached to a walk through corridor so if there was a nutter in your compartment you were stuck with them until the next stop! A bit Agatha Christie-ish! I’m always amazed that it seems only a few minutes after leaving London that you find yourself travelling through nice countryside but I have to say that it’s always better when you get to Scotland!
We did have a compartment with lovely lace curtains on a train ride from Guanzhou to Kowloon back in 1996 (on our honeymoon.)
Pearl,
That sounds lovely, more romantic than Inverness, 1976 (our honeymoon). The steam train which we travelled on in the Highlands last year had lovely First Class compartments with linen tablecovers, lamps and lace curtains. Sadly we were in Second Class! Next time though…
I like trains, especially the ones with compartments. I’m not sure if we have those in the United States. I’ve mostly only ridden the train back and forth between Boston and Pennsylvania. That’s more of a commuter route.
We saw one of the white chalk horses in Wiltshire many, many years ago. Amazing things.
Joan,
I love those horses and it always gives me a bit of a thrill, thinking how old they are but of course they have to be maintained otherwise the countryside would just grow over them. Every now and again the Scouts or some such other organisation re-chalk them.
I fancied having an old railway carriage in the garden but it would have been too difficult and expensive to get one.
What a post! Citizen Kane and Eric Ravilious at the same time is quite a treat. Katrina, you’re very fortunate to have one of Ravilious’s pieces for Wedgwood; collectors compete furiously for them. His graphic style was perhaps twenty-five years ahead of its’ time – elegant and yet with a playfulness we associate more with the Sixties than the Thirties, when Ravilious designed for the pottery. His most sought-after designs would, I suppose, be his Coronation mugs – the first done for Edward VIII’s Coronation That Never Was. The second – a hasty re-working of the first – was, of course, for George VI, and the third was posthumous, with Wedgwood appropriating the design once more for the present Queen. His Alphabet mug is also prized, as are the Afternoon Tea and Travel services. Still, the Coronation mugs are the most prized design.
Citizen Kane is a film that only gets better with time and repeated viewings – a virtue it shares with Vertigo, The Red Shoes and a handful of others. I am drawn to its extraordinary cheek – who but Welles would tweak the nose of William Randolph Hearst? – and to its enviable economy; the vastness of Xanadu’s storerooms was indicated by piling a lot of rubbish furniture at the far end of an empty soundstage. I am also a fan of its female performances; Dorothy Comingore is enormously courageous in her portrayal of a woman who can inspire mens’ fantasies – but has no capacity to live up to them nor any inner resources of her own. And of course, the late, great Agnes Moorehead is brilliant as the mother of young Charles Foster Kane, who must separate him from his beloved Rosebud and send him off to be made a great man of.
If anyone has not seen Citizen Kane, I suggest remedying the deficiency with all possible haste. After one has seen it three or four times, a viewing of the film RKO 281, with Liev Schreiber and John Malkovich, would also be in order; it tells the ‘making of’ and ‘behind the scenes’ stories of Kane’s making and release with remarkable fidelity to the facts.
Sandy,
I would love to have one of the Ravilious Coronation mugs but they are just too expensive and rarely seen for sale. The plate I have isn’t one of the gorgeous designs art deco, it’s a dinner plate in the Persephone design, still it looks good on my bedroom wall.
It’s donkey’s years since I’ve seen Citizen Kane but even my sons are fans and they are just in their late 20s. Thanks for all that information.
Katrina,
I just looked on eBay UK, and found that there is a 1953 Coronation mug for sale at $600 USD. Quite a lot! The really rare one is the one for Edward VIII, because sales were stopped after only a few were sold.
There is a way to own a bit of Ravilious at a more reasonable price; Wedgwood have kept using the Ravilious design for other mugs. The Queen’s Jubilee mug is much cheaper than Coronation ones, and the recent one for Prince George’s christening is cheaper yet.
If I ever get to call myself a lotto lout, rest assured I’ll be splashing out on all three Coronation mugs. That would be a dream come true.
I find the Persephone pattern to be very beautiful. You’re fortunate to have a piece.
Sandy,
I had a wee peek at UK Ebay and saw the Deco travel dishes were selling for about £365, and they might be restored for all the buyer knows!
I haven’t bought any Royal Commemoratives for yonks and haven’t even seen Prince George’s christening mug, I must hav ea look for one. I was tempted by a Ravilious Wedgwood book I saw on the net though. I used to display Coronation mugs in the old house but don’t really have space for them now, but they are all more mundane designs anyway.