Vertes Children

you didn't know?

 all the magical drawings of Vertes, and you hadn't seen his children?

baby Winston, age 1

 toddler Cocteau, age 2

 dreamer Schiap, age 7

the master in repose, Picasso, age 8

 & my favorite, playing dress up:

Edward and Wallis, age 11

dressing down?

Gypsy Rose Lee, age 4

Exhibited in 1951-Stanley Marcus bought the lot of Marcel Vertes' fanciful imaginings of famous personalities of the day for his Dallas store, Neiman Marcus.  the story of Marcus' purchase here

Bianchi's softly tinted walls awash in Vertes Flesh Pink

& her collection of Vertes

and for real Vertes, these alas, are just postcards Neiman Marcus produced- go see Penelope Bianchi's collection here and read her personal remembrances of growing up with Vertes-his paintings, that is. I always love to get comments from Penelope, her enthusiasm is infectious and she enriches us all at her own blog-linked just above.

the Stateside Mitford

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"Objectivity? I always have an objective." JM

Born this day one of the six Mitford Sisters, Jessica,  known as DECCA
portrait by William Acton

they all seem to hold a unique tie to their generation- 

she was to feel the constraints of her privilege most.

she would resent her parents for not allowing her a formal education., yet her Hons and Rebels leaves any sensitive Anglophile longing for ties to that Mitford family.

 Decca seated age 6, with Unity age 9

 "The Hons' Cupboard, where Debo and I spent much of our time, still has the same distinctive, stuffy smell and enchanting promise of complete privacy from the Grown-ups."  Jessica Mitford

Decca , center above & below

 The year she made her come out Decca fell out with the frivolity and flirting of the season, and ran off with her second cousin Esmond Romilly to Spain-joining Communists in the Spanish Civil War. Esmond was reporting on the war scene at the time and Decca was falling in love with Esmond.

 the young &  golden Romillys

Oh yes-and Esmond was First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill's nephew. Family, along with a British destroyer tried desperately to make the pair see reason and return to England. 

Ever the rebel, Decca married Esmond in 1937.

 Esmond and Decca, at left

 The young marrieds emigrated to the States  in 1939- soon after Britain declared war on Germany and Romilly enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Decca stayed in the States while in 1941-Esmond was killed in a bombing raid over Germany. Decca stayed on in America, marrying Robert Treuhaft in 1943-and so her life in civil rights and political life was born stateside. 

Her first book-written in 1960 when she was 43- Hons and Rebels-is a memoir of  her childhood. In her book, The American Way of Death Mitford writes a scathing criticism of  the funeral industry  practices toward Death and Family. The book became an instant bestseller &  was one of the inspirations for Tony Richardson's film The Loved One,  based on Evelyn Waugh's novel. More on this movie later. In 1977, Mitford published A Fine Old Conflict- about her life as a Communist. The book's title was Decca's version of the Communist anthem The Internationale- with the words being Tis the Final Conflict.

Her last work was an update entitled The American Way of Death Revisited. Jessica- Decca- died in 1998 of lung cancer in accordance with her wishes she was cremated and her ashes were scattered at sea for a mere $533. 31- 

A woman of conviction to the Last.





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Summer Guns

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Now light the candles; one; two; there’s a moth;
What silly beggars they are to blunder in
And scorch their wings with glory, liquid flame—
No, no, not that,—it’s bad to think of war,
When thoughts you’ve gagged all day come back to scare you;
And it’s been proved that soldiers don’t go mad
Unless they lose control of ugly thoughts
That drive them out to jabber among the trees.

Now light your pipe; look, what a steady hand.
Draw a deep breath; stop thinking; count fifteen,
And you’re as right as rain...
Why won’t it rain?...
I wish there’d be a thunder-storm to-night,
With bucketsful of water to sluice the dark,
And make the roses hang their dripping heads.
Books; what a jolly company they are,
Standing so quiet and patient on their shelves,
Dressed in dim brown, and black, and white, and green,
And every kind of colour. Which will you read?
Come on; O do read something; they’re so wise.
I tell you all the wisdom of the world
Is waiting for you on those shelves; and yet
You sit and gnaw your nails, and let your pipe out,
And listen to the silence: on the ceiling
There’s one big, dizzy moth that bumps and flutters;
And in the breathless air outside the house
The garden waits for something that delays.
There must be crowds of ghosts among the trees,—
Not people killed in battle,—they’re in France,—
But horrible shapes in shrouds—old men who died
Slow, natural deaths,—old men with ugly souls,
Who wore their bodies out with nasty sins.

. . . .
You’re quiet and peaceful, summering safe at home;
You’d never think there was a bloody war on!...
O yes, you would ... why, you can hear the guns.
Hark! Thud, thud, thud,—quite soft ... they never cease—
Those whispering guns—O Christ, I want to go out
And screech at them to stop—I’m going crazy;
I’m going stark, staring mad because of the guns.

- Siegfried Sassoon

July 10 ,1940. the 1st assault for Britain, World War II

photograph by  William Vandivert of  RAF ace pilot, South African Albert Gerald Lewis, standing on the wing of his plane after an engagement with enemy planes during the Battle of Britain, October 1940.

footnote-Siegfried Sassoon's poem "Repression of War" was written during World War I

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my darling Winston, about the carpets

What all husbands should know.



April 27 1909 Blenheim Palace

My darling one

" I had a long afternoon with Baxter and the carpets-The green carpet is lovely and will do beautifully for the library. In your room Nathan Laski's carpet, in mine, blue bedroom carpet from Bolton Street (just enough). I tried hard to make the red carpet do for the dining room, but it is really too shabby- The edges of stairs have made ridges along it- & there are awful stains (not my dog this time!)... Green sickly looking carpet out of Jack's bedroom in Bolton Street does Puppy Kitten* rooms- Another bit does the Cook's room- A big rug from dining room in Bolton Street? does my little sitting room, the edges done with blue polished linoleum continued out of hall. The whole house is now carpeted except one big servant's room (which can be done with cheap linoleum for about 2 pounds) and the Dining Room for which will have to be got- I have written to the people making the blue stair carpet to ask what it will cost to cover dining room with the blue..."

Clemmie Kat

(quote from Winston and Clementine) This letter was written 1 year after their marriage.

* the baby to be

Clementine Churchill 1915 (7 years after her marriage)

The house- 33 Eccleston Square, London

Baxter- Mr. Baxter from Maples of London, an upscale retailer. Lady Randolph dispatched Mr. Baxter to select the front door color, Winston's wallpaper , along with other details. Clementine's own bedroom decoration -of her own selection- was done up in oranges and green, and the walls were appliqued with a design of an orange tree.

Winston added a new Dining Room and the old one became his Library. A passion for books, Churchill was building his library of English literature and History at this time- books and bills were constantly flowing into the residence.

The Entrance Hall was relaid in black and white marble.

Winston Churchill 1904 (4 years before his marriage)

post materials from
Winston and Clementine: The Personal Letters of the Churchills ,edited by their daughter Mary Soames Churchill and Chartwell by Stefan Buczacki

Clementine Churchill (see more on wikipedia) All images from Wikipedia.