Funny
how we learn things ... I heard a story about John Maynard Keynes (1883 - 1946), the
economist ... because this is how I would describe him ... how would you
categorise him?
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| Keynes (right) and the US representative Harry Dexter White at the inaugural meeting of the International Monetary Fund 1946 ... Keynes died shortly after |
... but this intellectual man, was also passionate about all the arts (theatre, opera, music, ballet, art, poetry and literature), but made his way in the world as a Cambridge academic and government economist, enabling him to support his real interests.
He
lived in Cambridge or London and had a south Sussex base near his great
friends, members of the Bloomsbury Set ...
... where he could immerse himself in
appreciation of the arts ... and who, despite the fact they were conscientious
objectors to the war, helped them in many ways.
 |
| Degas' painting (1871/2) of his father listening to Lorenzo Pagans - the Spanish tenor c/o WikiGallery.org |
Two
other links occurred ... an A-Z Challenge
link “Lover of Words” at “Of Ships, Shoes andSealing Wax and Cabbages and Kings” - who had been writing about Degas and his paintings on each of the 26 days ...
link “Lover of Words” at “Of Ships, Shoes andSealing Wax and Cabbages and Kings” - who had been writing about Degas and his paintings on each of the 26 days ...
... and
then I picked up a wired.com article on Newton’s writing and how much of the
multitude of his papers (estimated 10 million words) has survived to the modern
day ... Sarah Dry has written a book about them ... and I leave you to check
out the link if you’d like to ...
I’ve
mentioned Newton a few times in the blog – particularly about his rivalry with
Robert Hooke over optical discoveries – but what I now found was that in 1936
Maynard Keynes had bought many of Isaac Newton’s papers ... safeguarding them
against dispersal ...
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| Roger Eliot Fry - self-portrait 1928 |
The reason for my ‘sudden’ interest was a BBC Radio 4 programme, whereby writer and broadcaster Nicholas Wapshott tells of the extraordinary and largely unknown story of how Keynes persuaded the British Government to take paintings in lieu of some of France’s World War One debt.
The ‘opportunity’ to acquire paintings from France came about when Degas died in 1917 ... a catalogue of the collection to be auctioned was on hand at Roger Fry’s studio, from which Duncan Grant persuaded Keynes to try and get some money out of the Treasury to bid for a few of the French Impressionists and post-Impressionists works on sale.
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| Oedipus and the Sphinx by Ingres - may well have been one of Degas' paintings auctioned off .. which is now in the Walters Art Museum |
Fry was an artist and art critic, after establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent developments in French painting, to which he gave the name Post-Impressionism ... he was the first figure to raise public awareness of modern art in Britain.
This
part of the story goes across to “Lover of Words” blog post on the art works
purchased by Keynes and where they subsequently ended up and why that small
collection is so important to us in England today ...
... but
this is how that Degas’ collection came to Britain:
Keynes
persuaded the Chancellor of the Exchequer to grant them £20,000 to purchase
some of the paintings at the forthcoming auction of Degas’ estate.
 |
| Trafalgar Square bounded on the north side by The National Gallery |
The
French were horrified that ‘some people’ were bidding against the Louvre for
various paintings ... this was against the backdrop of bombs falling ...
... Big
Bertha, the super howitzer, was on the outskirts of Paris booming in the
background --- crump --- crump --- crump --- horrific reverberating sounds of bombs landing ...
 |
| Charleston Farmhouse |
Keynes
couldn’t carry everything ... so he dropped his own roughly packed art works in
a hedge and strode up the lane ... to be greeted with horror ...
... first
because the Bloomsbury Group members present couldn’t understand why he had
£5,000 unspent ... then realising incredible works of art were sitting amongst
the twigs and wildlife at the bottom of the drive!
...
Duncan Grant tore down the lane to rescue the package ...
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| Three members of the group on the right: Lytton Strachey, Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell |
The
friends were much happier once they heard about the other 27 paintings and the
range of artists whose art had been bought for Britain.
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| Lydia Lopokova - the ballerina, whom Keynes married, an early photograph |
So what an incredible story ... for the love of art Keynes travelled to Paris at the time when howitzers were howling, the auction of Degas’ estate was taking place and within this juxtaposition of mayhem and normality the British acquired some extraordinary works of art.
Did we know Maynard Keynes’ interests were so broad ... foremost intellectual: one of the founders of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund ...
... then his artistic knowledge and passion for all things cultural – he founded or supported the Cambridge Arts Theatre, the Royal Opera House, Sadlers’ Wells Ballet Company and after the 2nd World War, just before he died, he was instrumental in establishing the Arts Council of Great Britain.
 |
| Cezanne's: Still Life of Seven Apples |
Keynes
had made arrangements that his paintings and library should go to Kings College,
Cambridge after his death ... while one of the paintings in the hedge: Cezanne’s ‘Still Life of Seven Apples’ is on loan
to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge ...
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| Kings College, Cambridge |
An observation was made at the end of the Radio 4 talk ... “this is culture, this is civilisation. This is what economics is for ...”
Somehow I feel we should spread those words ... provide opportunities for everyone to earn to pursue their dreams ... benefitting our locality, country and the world – improving everyone’s lot in life.
“this is culture, this is civilisation. This is what economics is for ...”
Lover of Words post: How the National Gallery, London was influenced by the death of Edgar Degas
(PS I'm very honoured that Natalie has titled this post this way ... very honoured - thanks Nat)
Wired.com Newton Papers: The Strange, Secret History of Isaac Newton's Papers
The Art of Keynes ... BBC Radio 4 Programme
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