Archive through 02 November 2002

** This is an archived, static copy of the Casebook messages boards dating from 1998 to 2003. These threads cannot be replied to here. If you want to participate in our current forums please go to https://forum.casebook.org **

Archive through 02 November 2002

Casebook Message Boards: Ripper Suspects: Ripper Suspects: Cornwell Archives: Archive through 02 November 2002

Author: A. Jackson Thursday, 31 October 2002 - 09:28 pm
I realize that the debate here mostly concerns the dissection of P. Cornwell's theory. And I acknowledge I can add nothing factual to the matter in question. So please take the following as entertainment only! I would really like it if Sickert were able to be proven to be the Ripper, because it makes a sick kind of sense to me. If you try to put yourself in the shoes of an artist with a massive ego and psychological demons to exorcize, Sickert's paintings are the perfect vehicle. If he is the Ripper, he would view the murders as an extension of himself, as was his art. To him they may have been works of genius in his own mind. But it is not enough just to create for the true narcissist/egoist. After the murders become a frenzied news event , you are the most infamous man in town- and you can't tell anybody!!!! Everyone is talking about you, but you can't say a word ! A secret thrill , of course- but also an unbearable tension of monumental proportions. That would only add to the already unbearable tensions driving him to murder again. This leads my thoughts to questions about his deformity & childhood. If he associated the excruciating operations as being somehow the fault of his mother, it would be a convenient motive. Seeing his mother as someone who should have protected him but failed, or someone who was laughing at his physical problems might have been enough to twist an already precarious nature.Perhaps a possible reason the victims were not sexually assaulted and the uterus a focal point. Painting images similar enough to the actual victims may have been his way of being able to at last see his (in his mind) great works before the public. As well as playing a diabolical joke on society in general. Another way to relive the crimes and celebrate his cleverness for getting away with it many times over. All in plain view. In previous posts , some have lamented that Sickert seemed like just a frail old man who is being victimized. In case after case, however, the murderer is often proven to be someone everyone in the neighborhood thought was harmless. I would also like to revive the theory that Ms. Cornwell is a man-hater. I have no proof, but I would like it to be so for my own amusement. Tarotphelia
Author: Christopher T George Thursday, 31 October 2002 - 10:29 pm
Hi Garry: In terms of the Lizard hotel register, there are caricatures in there but no proof that Sickert did them. Sickert did some primitive drawings that are somewhat like those caricatures, but if you look at them when you get the Cornwell book you will see that Sickert's known drawings of stick figures etc., as you might expect of a great artist, are materially better drawn than either the ones in the hotel ledger or the ones in the JtR letters. This really is a case of Ms. Cornwell clutching at straws. To David Radka: As I understand it, Ms. Cornwell has really had little to do with the Ripper community. She has gone her own way. Her book references few current books in the Ripper field. When I examined her bibliography, in terms of current books by authors in the field, she only references, I believe, Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell and The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion, both of them, as you know, by Evans and Skinner. No reference to books by Begg, Fido, Sugden, etc., etc. She does discuss Abberline's memoirs, making the point that Abberline skips over the Ripper case and the Cleveland Street affair, and she does reference, as I recall, the memoirs by Macnaghten and Major Smith. I believe if Ms. Cornwell had conferred more closely with authorities in the Ripper field she might not have gone out on a limb as she has in making Walter Sickert her suspect. It might have been of great benefit to have a modern scientific investigation of the case, for which I give her due credit, without deciding beforehand who the Whitechapel murderer is. That really is her fatal mistake, and why her book will not get the respect that perhaps it would receive if she had conducted her investigation differently. Best regards Chris George
Author: Christopher T George Friday, 01 November 2002 - 12:34 am
Hi, Dean James Hines: Thanks for your interesting and informative post on the Impressionist school that included Sickert as well as on the German Expressionists, including Otto Dix and his unsettling works. As you stated, "Observing a slide of his etching, Rape and Murder (1922) the parallels with Kelly's murder were all too apparent." As you say, Dix was not born when MJK was murdered but if we can be a bit light-hearted about it, for the upwards of forty murders that Ms. Cornwell theorizes Sickert committed before he died in 1942, possibly if it cannot be proven that Sickert did the later murders, maybe Otto would make a good candidate? All the best Chris
Author: Dean James Hines Friday, 01 November 2002 - 04:20 am
Hi Christopher T George, Glad that you enjoyed the analysis. Light hearted but interesting proposal for putting Otto Dix forward as a candidate, or maybe we can pin every well know crime of that era on to Sickert? Maybe there's a painting called Dr Crippen's Cellar? Seriously though, I have some additional issues of contention. Perhaps PC has covered it in her book, I don't know, but it seems an obvious and crucial piece of evidence to omit from the documentary. Given that we have numeorus images which are available of Sickert as a young and old man why were these not cross referenced to eye witness accounts of men seen with the victims prior to their murders? Maybe somebody would like to expand upon this issue, particularly Hutchinson's statement about the man seen with Kelly, if as I have suggested, the case for Sickert hinges on. I am suprised that nothing was said of this, instead the documentary presented this gung-ho approach to the little 'physical' evidence there was, the JtR Letters. This is interesting in itself, although this may again be a case of clutching at straws. When Cornwell viewed 'Boredom' by Sickert at the Tate Britain she made a comment about the bottle of red liquid upon the mantlepiece, she made a slight reference to blood but I was expecting her to make to connection to the 'ginger beer bottle of the real thing' mentioned in the Dear Boss letter. Did anyone else make a similar connection?
Author: Stewart P Evans Friday, 01 November 2002 - 04:39 am
In answer to the query above by Dean, no I was not approached by the BBC for my comments. Don Rumbelow was the only authority used and they stated that he was the only one they required. His was the only dissentient voice in the programme pushing Cornwell's theory. Don summed it up very well when he stated: "Out there is an element who is going to believe this nonsense that Sickert is the Ripper. Some lunatic will go into the Tate or somewhere else and slash a canvas because he was Jack the Ripper. This is the sort of thing, this sort of nonsense, which actually triggers this behaviour and there is this element out there who will believe it." Ms. Cornwell, apparently, indicated from the very early days of her research that she wished to use no recognised Ripper authority in her work, other than John Grieve who was then a serving, high-ranking officer (Deputy Assistant Commissioner) with the Metropolitan Police. His part in introducing her to the Ripper case was described in the Omnibus programme. When ABC did their Primetime programme on Ms. Cornwell's theory in the USA last year they contacted me the day before the broadcast. They asked if I would agree to an interview about it to discuss my views on it. I agreed and an ABC camera team came here that night and I was linked up for an interview with New York which was filmed. It must have lasted the best part of an hour. I fully explained that I thought the idea of Sickert as a Jack the Ripper suspect was a nonsense and that his name as such, had emerged only as late as the 1970's and even then only as a part of the Royal conspiracy farce. They apparently weren't hearing what they wanted to hear. They seemed keen to discover if I would be able to conclusively dismiss Sickert as a suspect with incontrovertible evidence such as the fact that he was abroad at the time of the murders. Of course I wasn't. Sickert's movements are not recorded in such detail. However, I explained the reasons why the theory was totally unsupported by any grain of evidence and that Sickert was never a suspect at all. Needless to say when the programme was aired no interview with me appeared on it. Also, needless to say, I received no payment for the interview. Chris George has pointed out that Ms. Cornwell has listed the two volumes, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion and Jack the Ripper Letters From Hell in her book. These are, essentially, reference works and this is, I presume, the reason she used them. They have no suspect bias at all. We were, in fact, aware that her team was using these books during her research. Regarding the so called 'evidence' of the Openshaw letter I would have the following to say. There is nothing whatsoever to connect it with Sickert. The DNA testing that was conducted on the letters at the PRO was a failure and no nuclear DNA was traced. Tests were carried out for mitochondrial DNA and the tests were not negative, but they proved little. Scott Medine has made an excellent summary of the weakness of this 'evidence' and I need not explain it over again. It does not even link Sickert to any letter. It merely does not exclude him, as it does not exclude many thousands of others. Ms. Cornwell's own team member, Dr. Paul Ferrara, was patently very honest and summed up: "It's not definitive at this point, it's iffy. But tantalisingly iffy, again, in terms of, um, we can't eliminate Walter Sickert." It is interesting to think that they may have detected DNA contamination from me, as the Openshaw letter and envelope was in my personal possession, for around six months, about a year before Ms. Cornwell even learned of its existence. And I photographed the watermark in this letter at that time. The fact that the watermark matched, in the part '& Sons', that of the watermark 'A Pirie & Sons' found in a Sickert letter does not mean that he wrote it. Again the honest Dr. Ferrara stated: "I think that its reasonable to assume that a lot of people used that particular stationery. So this is not a smoking gun by any stretch of the imagination. But at least we were able to establish a tenuous link or commonality between at least one of the Jack the Ripper letters, and subsequently some others, and Walter Sickert." What was not mentioned is the fact that almost certainly this letter is just another irrelevant hoax. Finally may I say, in my opinion, the whole case against Sickert is a house of cards and not one shred of solid evidence against him is adduced. After six million dollars spent no new fact on the Ripper case, as far as I can see, has been found.
Author: Stewart P Evans Friday, 01 November 2002 - 04:59 am
Dean, In reply to the point you have raised above about "the bottle of red liquid" in the Sickert painting 'Ennui', the following may assist those, particularly in the USA, who did not see the Omnibus programme. Ms. Cornwell was filmed with Robert Upstone, curator at the Tate, looking at this painting. She commented on the painting on the wall within this painting, (the one that the conspiracy theorists claim shows Queen Victoria with a gull on her left shoulder): P.C.: "...yet there's this thing up here, just something that I noticed that stopped me in my tracks. There's a strange pale sort of crescent that's coming over her left shoulder, from what looks like the darkness. And if you stand back, and again you say 'is this my imagination?', to me it looks like it could be almost a figure coming behind her." R.U.: "I'd say, looking at that, I can see what you mean, but it doesn't really look like that to me. It looks to me like a reflection or a shadow." P.C.: "I'm not saying that's what it is, 'cause it's like interpreting an ink blot. The other thing I noticed in this bottle of what looks like it would be claret or something, unless someone who'd just poured it the way it's sort of trailing down the glass here, to me as an aficionado of crime as opposed to art, it has a sort of bloody, bleeding sort of look." Do we really need to have in-depth discussions about these nonsensical, irrelevant, meaningless, subjective impressions of Ms. Cornwell? Best Wishes, Stewart
Author: Andy & Sue Parlour Friday, 01 November 2002 - 05:09 am
Hello Stewart. Two excellent post's. I have look at that picture which supposedly as a Gull in there somewhere. Can you tell me where? A.
Author: Dean James Hines Friday, 01 November 2002 - 07:44 am
Hi Stewart, Thank you for your response to my questions. I'm sorry that the ABC inetrview treated you with such contempt towards your expertise. It just further highlights the attempts that some will make to shoehorn Sickert into the persona of Jack the Ripper. This is apparent as well with Cornwell's interpretation of Ennui. Cornwell seems so convinced that Sickert is the Ripper that anything she sees in the painting must be associated with the Ripper, it seems almost too simplistic an approach. My comments about the claret bottle stem purely from the anticipation that Cornwell would link this with the Dear Boss letter, apparently not so it seems as no word was mentioned. I would not have mentioned it otherwise in my argument, the art experts seemed themselves uncomfortable to suggest the notion of murder. I do hope this farce will die down. Cornwell has said her bit, she will reap the royalties, it seems she has moved on? I just hope Donald Rumblelow's words are not prophetic. DJH
Author: Stewart P Evans Friday, 01 November 2002 - 07:53 am
Andy, The painting referred to is 'Ennui', c. 1914, which is mentioned on pages 43 and 256 of Stephen Knight's Jack the Ripper the Final Solution. The Tate version was shown in the Omnibus programme but there is a second version at Oxford. The Oxford version is a half-scale version of the almost life size Tate one, but there is more detail in the Oxford version, such as patterns, and more detail in the painting on the wall within the picture. It was the Oxford version that Knight referred to as containing "a veiled reference to the truth behind the Ripper crimes." And on page 256 he states "In Ennui, a picture within the picture depicts Queen Victoria. What appears to be a bird fluttering near her head is in fact a gull, Sickert told his son." As you will see it forms part of the Joseph Sickert fantasy. There is a picture of 'Ennui' in Knight's book. Best Wishes, Stewart
Author: Warwick Parminter Friday, 01 November 2002 - 09:07 am
Just a couple of little questions that may make sense, or may not,-- could Sickert's movements be accounted for on the nights/mornings of the murders?. Could Mary Kelly have been at times a model for Sickert,--- or any other artist? Rick
Author: ALAN SMITH Friday, 01 November 2002 - 09:40 am
Although I agree with the concensus that Cornwell's theory is to be treated with contempt, another of Sickert's paintings is of interest. I dont remember it's name but it is of a girl with her face blurred to the point of disfigurement sitting on a bed by a broken window (a la Kelly). Could it be that Sickert was obsessed by the Ripper case and did indeed incorporate references to Jack in his work? Which sadly for P.C. wouldnt mean that he was the man. Alan
Author: Warwick Parminter Friday, 01 November 2002 - 10:13 am
Jack the Ripper, he posed the bodies of the women he murdered in a very indecent way, Walter Sickert was an artist, he must have had female models, he would have positioned them into the pose he wanted them to keep while he painted them---Hollandaise and the Camden Town Murder for instance? It seems he had a fascination for Jack the Ripper and his murder scenes. Is it possible he had a desire to paint pornographic/sadistic pictures? I thought I saw quite a fruity painting he had done of a clothed man, standing looking down at a nude woman on a bed, I'm not sure whether it was another version of The Camden Town Murder. Rick
Author: Christopher-Michael DiGrazia Friday, 01 November 2002 - 10:47 am
Alan - The painting you are thinking of is titled La Hollandaise and is, admittedly, an odd-looking piece of art, with the face of the subject seemingly 'smeared' or 'wiped' away. But better posters than I have commented on Sickert's technique, so this need not concern us. It has been attested that Sickert was very interested in the Ripper murders (as he was in the Camden Town murder and the Crippen case), so certainly could have found inspiration of a sort in the Whitechapel Murders. But that hardly provides proof that he was the killer. Stewart - Excellent posts, as always. Many thanks for your illuminating and extensive citations, which ought to put paid to this whole suppurating mess of a theory.
Author: Christopher T George Friday, 01 November 2002 - 11:03 am
Hi, Rick, Allan, CM, Stewart, etc.: Walter Sickert seemingly had a fascination with the Ripper case but so did many people of the day. Roslyn D'Onston, another suspect, also had a fascination with the case, documentarily more so than Sickert. But that doesn't make him Jack the Ripper. We today have a fascination with the case, as does Patricia Cornwell evidently. But that doesn't make her or us Jack the Ripper. Rick, the painting of Sickert's that you are thinking of with the clothed man, standing looking down at a nude woman on a bed, is the painting known as "The Camden Town Murder." It was apparently this painting that Deputy Assistant Commissioner John Grieve of Scotland Yard mentioned to Ms. Cornwell that first got her thinking of Sickert as a suspect in the murders, according to p. 12 of her book. Although the painting may look kinky to us, it really is no more kinky than and is in the tradition of another more blatant such Impressionistic painting, "Le Dejeuner sur L'Herbe" by Edouard Manet (1863) featuring a nude woman having a picnic with two fully dressed men. Best regards Chris George
Author: Dean James Hines Friday, 01 November 2002 - 12:01 pm
Hi George, You cannot get more blantant then featuring your own brother and brother in law in a painting alongside a prostitute as is the history of this painting by Manet. The artist attempts to convey the liberated sexuality of bohemian life, though still subtley refering the nude in the landscape back to the tradition of earlier periods, as Gorgione's, Fete Champetre. It's a liberated lifestyle which Sickert was renouned for. Indeed, when he finished his studies with Whistler, Sickert went to Paris to paint with Degas, an artist infatuated with the nude. It's not suprising then that his later works are perhaps influenced by Degas obsession with the female form. DJH
Author: Jim Jenkinson Friday, 01 November 2002 - 12:39 pm
Hi all, Can anyone tell me why the above mentioned painting is called "La Hollandaise" ? Cheers Jim
Author: Christopher T George Friday, 01 November 2002 - 12:50 pm
Maybe she was from the Netherlands, me old Dutch? Or she was just a saucy wench.
Author: Jim Jenkinson Friday, 01 November 2002 - 01:13 pm
I take it is too early in the day for you indulging in Dutch Courage, Chris, to post those agonising puns. I was wondering if it is short for adjudication a la hollandaise... dutch auction ?
Author: Christopher T George Friday, 01 November 2002 - 01:32 pm
Hi, Jim: 1:32 pm here in the Federal capital of the old USA, sun well over the yardarm. I don't know about "Dutch auction" as a meaning for the painting, Jim. I have heard the title of the "La Hollandaise" translated literally as "The Dutch Girl." Someone recently remarked that Ms. Cornwell, though, is like the Dutch boy with her finger in the dike. All the best Chris
Author: Jim Jenkinson Friday, 01 November 2002 - 01:48 pm
Chris, Back over here in Blighty I can't see the sun or the yardarm. I'm heading over to the Spotted Bull for eight or less pints of IPA, in a wee while. So I'll have one for you. You could say that about Patsy, but I couldn't possibly comment !! Your very good health Jim
Author: Michael Raney Friday, 01 November 2002 - 02:19 pm
Chris George, Bad boy, bad boy! Mikey
Author: Andy & Sue Parlour Friday, 01 November 2002 - 02:31 pm
Hello Stewart, Thanks for that reply, I have studied it all day (1 minute), looks more like a duck to me. Goes with Patricia Cornwell's twaddle, or should that be waddle. Perhaps one day it will turn into a beautiful white swan. A.
Author: Brian Schoeneman Friday, 01 November 2002 - 04:15 pm
I've been trying to find on-line versions of Sickert's works, and I'm having trouble. Has anyone found any websites with pictures of the relevant works? B
Author: Christopher T George Friday, 01 November 2002 - 04:32 pm
Hi, Brian: Yes there are any number of sites where you can find images of Sickert's works. Look at The School of London RELATED ARTISTS. Or do a google search on "Sickert" at http://www.google.com Chris
Author: Garry Wroe Friday, 01 November 2002 - 06:45 pm
Hi Chris (George). Many thanks for your caricature-related post. I do, of course, take on board your scepticism and wouldn't be at all surprised if the hotel register drawing and annotations prove to be yet another red-herring. Still, I'll remain open-minded until such time as there is definitive evidence one way or the other. Oh, and Chris, the one thing I will not be doing is buying the Cornwell book! Enjoy your weekend, Garry Wroe.
Author: Lisa Muir Friday, 01 November 2002 - 07:27 pm
Patricia Cornwell's "Sickert theory" was just a question (or would that be answer?) on "Jeopardy" Her publicity agent deserves a pay raise -- the contestant answered correctly!
Author: Simon Owen Saturday, 02 November 2002 - 06:12 am
Hello Lisa , how are you doing ? ' La Hollandaise ' means the Dutch girl , the model could have been Dutch but Sickert did give cryptic titles to his paintings so it could mean anything. I did point out though in an earlier post that this could be a reference to Mary Kelly , who was the lover of the Dutch man Morganstone. The picture of ' The Camden Town Murder ' ( 1904 ) is subtitled ' What Shall We Do For The Rent ? ' - well , the Camden Town victim wasn't actually behind with her rent , but Mary Kelly was. I think its very likely that Sickert knew Mary Kelly , and she is the reason for his interest in the Ripper case ; something which Patricia Cornwell didn't even mention.
Author: Kevin Fountoukidis Saturday, 02 November 2002 - 06:14 am
Hi Whenever I see any new suspect discussed I ask myself only a couple of basic questions: 1. Was the person proven to be in the right place at the right time? 2. Was the person the right age and the right description (more or less)? 3. Why did the person stop killing? At this point I am most interested in the answer to #3. Since I am not familiar with PC's theory can someone tell me how she explains the fact that Sickert lived a long time after MJK and didn't do it again? I am to understand that he changed his MO, or that his new MO was painting rather than killing? Regards Kevin
Author: Christopher T George Saturday, 02 November 2002 - 06:46 am
Hi, Kevin: You asked: "Since I am not familiar with PC's theory can someone tell me how she explains the fact that Sickert lived a long time after MJK and didn't do it again? I am to understand that he changed his MO, or that his new MO was painting rather than killing?" Here's your answer: "Serial killers keep killing. Sickert kept killing. His body count could have been fifteen, twenty, forty before he died peacefully in his bed in Bathampton, January 22, 1942, at the age of 81." Patricia Cornwell, Portrait of a Killer, Jack the Ripper--Case Closed, p. 351. Ms. Cornwell attributes various murders to her suspect, including, at the time of the Ripper murders, the torso series (Whitechapel and Pinchin Street cases) and other murders round the country, and later the September 1907 murder of Emily Dimmock in Camden Town that Sickert painted. Ms. Cornwell is not exact on giving details on all the murders committed by the artist between 1888 and 1942. As she states, "His body count could have been fifteen, twenty, forty. . ." So, yes, a change in MO, and a scaling down from the ferociousness of the attack on Mary Jane Kelly is imputed. I hope the above helps, Kevin. All the best Chris George
Author: Kev Kilcoyne Saturday, 02 November 2002 - 06:47 am
I think it would be wrong to dismiss Patricia Cornwell's work out of hand. As with many discredited theories - one thinks of Stephen Knight for example - often the research behind these does uncover new information and ideas. As far as I know Ms Cornwell was the first to try a forensic approach to Ripper artificats (please correct me if I'm wrong), albeit she was barking up the wrong tree with the letters, since only a couple if any were genuine. Walter Sickert was an interesting and unusual man whose subjects were often disturbing. Additionally he enjoyed playing with words and the titles to his paintings. Ms Cornwall diserves some credit for publicising the Manchester 'Sickert' entitled 'Jack the Ripper's bedroom.' To my knowledge this is the first one of his paintings that has a direct link to the Ripper Case. Other paintings had titles or images that could be construed as being related, should you so wish, but this is different. Also the postulation that this was Sickert's bedroom at Mornington Crescent is highly intereting. It is certainly a dark and disturbing image. It is my belief that Sickert knew something or thought he knew something about Jack the Ripper. More than that we cannot say. Being the sort of character that he was, it was natural that he would repeat stories and rumours that he had heard and possibly even titillate his audience by hinting that he knew more and was maybe involved. I think it is this behavioural trait that, coupled with his paintings, has down the years, led to certain theorists putting two and two together and coming up with five. Jack the Ripper he ain't, but Sickert is still a fascinating subject. I think that, when we analyse Ms Cornwell's work, what antagonises us about it is, the arrogance of someone who thinks that overnight, they can solve a case that had baffled a huge combined intelligence for more than a hundred years, or are we mistaking native American optimism for arrogance? We are also I suspect, envious, (I certainly am), of anyone who has $6 million to devote to the subject. Shame she blew it on this particular theory!
Author: Ally Saturday, 02 November 2002 - 06:54 am
All I know is I have been sitting here while Stephen reads her book for the last two days and all I have gotten was a frequent refrain of "This woman is insane." I hope that appears in the official review. Can't wait to read it myself. Crazy people are so fun. Ally
Author: Jim Jenkinson Saturday, 02 November 2002 - 07:49 am
Hi all, So there's no takers for my Dutch Auction theory about the title "La Hollandaise". i.e. a prostitute gradually lowering her price 'til she gets an agreement. This reinforces what a failure I am. Thank goodness Ally has re-opened the pub, as I was getting twitchy. Jim
Author: Christopher T George Saturday, 02 November 2002 - 08:53 am
Hi, Ally: Great. Glad that you and Stephen have ascertained the true situation. . . It's Ms. Cornwell who is insane not Walter Sickert. I'll alert the media. All the best Chris
Author: Ally Saturday, 02 November 2002 - 09:02 am
Yeah Jim sorry about that...multi-tasking is apparently not my strong suit. Next time I screw up on such a large scale, I'll be more quick to rectify but I was swamped last night. Luckily we keep back ups so if I ever drop an important board, I won't have to be hauled out and killed by our illustrious leader. Chris, Yeah, though I really have to say his play by play is making me really want to read the book.. This woman is insane. This woman is insane. This woman is !insane!. God I am so glad she was never a real police official because this woman is insane and that would just be scary. Really, I feel like I've read the book already.
Author: Ally Saturday, 02 November 2002 - 09:21 am
Cornball JTR Drinking Game-- Get together with a group of your friends and read a chapter aloud. Every time she uses a qualifier with her "evidence" (i.e. might indicate, possibly indicate, could be evidence, may be related, can mean) you take a drink.
Author: Spryder Saturday, 02 November 2002 - 09:42 am
I'd just like to clarify... While I've found no evidence to suggest that P.C. is insane, I've also found no evidence to suggest that she is not insane. - Stephen, member of the P.C. School of Logic
Author: Jim Jenkinson Saturday, 02 November 2002 - 10:35 am
I cannot comment on insanity. While watching the BBC documentary, Ms Cornwell was viewing a home movie of the ageing Sickert and commenting on Sickert's scary eyes. The camera panned to Patsy, and I couldn't help noticing....... her scary eyes !! She certainly put us Brits in our place, by informing the world "the English EAT kidneys !" I'm Scottish but I'm SURE she meant me as well. Oh, the shame. La Belle Cornwell also informed us that Cornwall is in Southern England, eliminating at a stroke, the obvious confusion, we dumbassed kidney-eating limeys, would have between our beloved county and the multi-talented author with the same name. Jim
Author: Wolf Vanderlinden Saturday, 02 November 2002 - 10:53 am
According to art/Sickert expert, Richard Shone, the title La Hollandaise comes from Balzac's novel, Gobseck in which one of the characters, a prostitute, was called La Hollandaise. Wolf.
Author: Jim Jenkinson Saturday, 02 November 2002 - 10:56 am
One more comment on the documentary. The shot of Ms Cornwell's team marching furrowed browed, tight-lipped and in close formation towards the Public Record Office, was a sight to behold. However, a glorious opportunity to air Wagner's "The Ride of the Valkyries" was lost. Jim
Author: Jim Jenkinson Saturday, 02 November 2002 - 11:01 am
Wolf, Thanks for that. The Dutch Girl sounded a bit simple, in isolation, for a Sickert title. Best Wishes Jim