Author Archives: picturesinpowell

Jenkins, entering the church that served as the company’s billet, “followed Kedward through the forbidding portals of Sardis — one of the Seven Churches of Asia, I recollected — immediately entering a kind of a cave, darker than the streets, … Continue reading →

Jenkins begins The Valley of Bones (VB) with his Welsh regiment in a seaside village in Wales. He describes the setting: “The streets, built at constantly changing levels, were not without a bleak charm, an illusion of tramping through Greco’s … Continue reading →

Jenkins visits the aging General Conyers. “His face had become ever more aquiline and ivory, the underlying structure of bone and muscle, accentuated by age, giving him an other-worldliness of expression…. At the same time there was a restless strength, … Continue reading →

When Jenkins encounters Mrs. Erdleigh at the Bellevue, she is wearing “a black coat with a high fur collar, a tricorne hat, also black, riding on the summit of grey curls. … This new method of doing her hair, the … Continue reading →

Jenkins’ Uncle Giles died while living at the Bellevue, run by Albert Creech, whom Nick remembered from his boyhood at Stonehurst. In Nick’s memory, Albert had mythical status like “Mr. Deacon’s paintings of the Hellenic scene. Albert, I thought was like … Continue reading →

At Stourwater, Jenkins reencounters the Seven Deadly Sins tapestries, Luxuria [TKO 120/117], and proposes that they be used as the models for the tableaux vivants to be photographed by Sir Magnus. [TKO 127-134/124-130] We have previously discussed the possibility that the … Continue reading →

At Sir Magnus’ dinner party, an entertainment is wanted. “‘Let’s pose some tableaux,” said Matilda. ‘Donners can photograph us in groups.’”  Several themes are floated and discarded.  “‘What about some mythological incident?’ said Moreland.  ‘Andromeda chained to her rock, or … Continue reading →

Fettiplace-Jones’ wife was “an eager little woman with the features of the Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland….” [TKO 94/91] This is the third reference to a Tenniel illustration in Dance (see The Frog Footman and The Mad Hatter). Powell, or at … Continue reading →

Mr Deacon painted huge pictures of the Olympian gods but shunned the “female form divine,” [TKO 83/ 80] In A Buyer’s Market, Jenkins introduced Mr. Deacon and told us much about his art and his antecedents (for examples, see our posts, Mr. … Continue reading →

About 1929, Moreland and Jenkins are discussing the role of action in artistic creation. Moreland asks: “Is art action, an alternative to action, an enemy of action, or nothing whatever to do with action?” Jenkins replies: “Ask the Surrealists. They … Continue reading →