Landscapes and Beasts, a Review

According to the exhibition and cultural centre Firstsite, Colchester, England, the exhibition of ‘Denis Wirth-Miller: Landscapes and Beasts’ is on from October 1st 2022 to January 22nd 2023. It “ … follows Firstsite’s critically acclaimed 2021-22 exhibition ‘Life with Art’ – an exhibition which focused on artists of The East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing, of which Denis Wirth-Miller and Dickie Chopping were a part and Francis Bacon visited.” That said…

Ever since I’ve returned to my old home town (Colchester, Essex, June 2021), after living almost two decades in Asia, I have found myself discovering a renewed interest in the history of art of the area (England’s East Anglia). Firstsite’s series of exhibitions, including the 2021 exhibition (mentioned above and meticulously researched and put together in combination with Firstsite by Colchester Art Society’s Simon Carter and Melvyn King) have been a great boon to my knowledge acquisition. It has led to me looking closer at those artists who had brought notions of the artistic avant-garde/Modern art to East Anglia’s Colchester (Essex, England) and its environs.

Last year’s exhibition, ‘Life with Art’, concentrated on the founding and running of the Benton End East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing, and the diverse young artists who became associated with it. This included Denis Wirth-Miller and his life partner Richard (Dickie) Chopping, both of whom had eventually settled in Wivenhoe after first living in London’s Fitzrovia, Wormingford in Essex and in the old Tudor house of Suffolk’s Benton End, along with other self- exiled young (new) bohemians.

This fresh Firstsite exhibition adds another vital branch to the already existing tree of Benton End and its artistic and exotic fruit. In so doing, the exhibition gives its visitors the opportunity to engage with a larger selection of Denis Wirth-Miller’s work. This new exhibition enables the visitor to look at Wirth-Miller’s work in more detail, and consider the interactions Wirth-Miller had, and in particular with the Irish born, British art bad boy, Francis Bacon a giant in the modern history of British art.

Denis Wirth-Miller (born Dennis Wirthmiller in Folkestone, Kent to a Bavarian father and British mother,1915) has long been an unsung British artist. He died in Colchester’s General Hospital, of vascular dementia, in the October of 2010. His long time partner ‘Dickie’ Chopping had died two years previously, while Wirth-Miller’s friend and sometime mentor, Francis Bacon, had died in 1992. Wirth-Miller and Chopping had met Francis Bacon during their carousing days in London’s Fitzrovia (that nest of literati and the artistically inclined laying between London’s Fitzroy Square and Oxford Street). Whether Wirth-Miller’s lack of continued prominence in the British

art hierarchy was due to his decision to move out from Britain’s wartorn ‘Bohemian’ world of inner-London’s Fitzrovia, along his lifelong partner Dickie Chopping; returning to Chopping’s roots along the Essex/Suffolk border of East Anglia, or not, is a separate issue. The two men’s long time friendship with Francis Bacon, saw the art historical limelight shine on Bacon, casting shadows on artists such as Graham Sutherland (Bacon’s previous mentor) and away from artists such as Wirth-Miller (Bacon’s next partner in art crime).

On entering Colchester’s Firstsite’s ‘Landscapes and Beasts’ exhibition

(curated by James Birch with Firstsite’s Sarah Hall’s support as coordinator),

Bacon’s influence over Wirth-Miller’s artistic style is quickly made evident. In Wirth-Miller’s defense, and before talking further about that exhibition, I need to add a quote from a piece I have previously published (in The Blue Lotus magazine issue 16, pages 40- 55, 2019) about a perceived resonance of Graham Sutherland’s work in that of the early Francis Bacon. Why, will soon become evident.

“Bacon and Sutherland had been friends during the 1940s, with the already well established Sutherland advancing Bacon’s career, and with much painterly cross-fertilisation occurring. This becomes evident in paintings such as Sutherland’s ‘Gorse on Sea Wall’ (1939). It is no wonder then, that those ‘echoes’ occur, passed, as they had been, from Sutherland to Bacon… It is that metamorphosis, that evolving which is the product of freedom of the artist’s mind, freedom to experiment, for the artist to create without fear.” as there are intimations of Graham Sutherland’s style in that of the young Francis Bacon’s work (1940s) later (1950s) Bacon and Wirth- Miller collaborated in the British Wivenhoe studios, now highlighted by the ‘Landscapes and Beasts’ exhibition. True to the exhibition promise, the first images we encounter as we turn to our left (and opposite the very large exhibition lettering) are those of landscapes. Specifically one 1939 painting ‘Stour Valley Landscape’ which is an oil on canvas by Denis Wirth-Miller, and next to it ‘Garden Landscape’ (oil on stucco, 1941).

In a sense, those innovative images wrought by the artist Graham Sutherland, who had risen to be considered one of the elite in modern British art, long haunted both Denis Wirth-Miller and Francis Bacon. With Wirth-Miller it was landscapes recollecting Sutherland’s ‘Grasses Against Dark Sky’ (1963) et al, and perhaps foreshadowing Wirth- Miller’s later return to rural landscapes, post Francis Bacon’s influence on him. On closer examination, works such as Sutherland’s “Green Tree Form’ (1940), might also be seen to predict Bacon’s ‘Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion’ (1944). The young, ambitious, Francis Bacon had long admired Sutherland’s work, so much so that Bacon wrote of his admiration in a series of letters to Sutherland, reminiscent of the awe in which the young Salvador Dalí had held the older Pablo Picasso. Sutherland’s influence on Bacon and Wirth- Miller is not mentioned at the Firstsite exhibition, only the connections between Francis Bacon and Denis Wirth-Miller.

In the Firstsite exhibition, opposite the aforementioned Wirth-Miller images, is a purple wall divider. On that divider is a brief explanation of the intent of the exhibition, which is to re-present the fifty year friendship between Denis Wirth-Miller and Francis Bacon in the largest exhibition of its kind (to date) featuring the works of Wirth- Miller, interspersed with appropriate images by and of Francis Bacon.

In his volume ‘The Visitor’s Book’ (Constable, 2016) Jon Lys Turner (from whom most of the exhibition’s works have come) talks about the closeness of the relationship which B            iller had continued over time. Turner relates that…

“One afternoon in 1949, Wirth-Miller took Bacon to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum in order to show him the work of the Victorian photographer Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904)…The images would have a significant effect on the work of both men over the next five years. After each of the artists’ deaths, copies of Muybridge images were found littered on the ground of both their studios.” 

Those works were from Eadweard Muybridge’s 1887 book, ‘Animal Locomotion’

(aka ‘An electro-photographic investigation of consecutive phases of animal

movements. 1872-1885’), images from which are in a showcase in the Firstsite, 2022, ‘Landscapes and Beasts’ exhibition. In Firstsite’s small catalogue to the Wirth-Miller exhibition, Andrew Wilson, in his essay ‘A Study of the Objectification of the Bestial’, suggests that in Wirth-Miller’s series ‘Dogs in Motion’ (1953-54) “The dog is a moving bodily force, unhesitatingly described but also portraying the evanescence of life: matter and energy that are here one moment and then gone.”

Provoked by those Muybridge plates from ‘Animal Locomotion’, perhaps, but with suggested intimations of Graham Sutherland’s work and that of the Italian ‘Futurist’ Giacomo Balla (in particular his 1912 painting ‘Dinamismo di un cane al guinzaglio’ - Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash). The depiction of ‘movement’ became a meme resonant in the Bacon/Wirth-Miller (1950s) collaborations, and of Bacon’s images, analogous to those of Sutherland. As Parmenides was wont to say "Ex nihilo nihil fit” (nothing comes from nothing).

Overall, Colchester Firstsite’s exhibition ‘Denis Wirth-Miller: Landscapes and Beasts’, completes its two tasks with aplomb. It does add to existing knowledge about prominent British artists in the East Anglian region, and their relationships with the burgeoning modern British art, as well as charting the relationship between the largely overlooked Denis Wirth-Miller, and the more famous Francis Bacon.

What I took away from that exhibition, was the need for a more permanent exhibition collection which encompasses both of the exhibitions mentioned, and acts as a resource for the further study of modern British Art in the East Anglian region, its links and interconnections as begun with the 2021 ‘Life with Art’ exhibition.

Prague’s annual Indo-Czech Festival 2022

The Durga Puja was held again in Prague this year (2022). The main puja was within Papia Ghoshal’s ‘Gallery’ (part of her atelier/Ankara) uphill from the main town, while other venues (such as TJ Sokol) accommodated an art exhibition, a smaller Durga altar, puja and Indian cultural performances. For those two weeks (in Prague) I was guided into the preparations for the Indian ritual of Durga Puja.

The Hindustan Times suggests that “ This festival is about women’s empowerment, whereby a form of the Mother Goddess, Shakti, incarnates as goddess Durga inculcating the purest power of all the gods to kill the asura (demon) named Mahishasur. While all of this is mythological lore, it also has deep symbolic significance in recent times and will always be relevant,” Essentially the Durga Puja is a celebration of the female through Hindu Goddess Durga and relates to female energy (Shakti).

Through Papia Ghoshal I was welcomed into the vanguard of those preparations. I met the film makers, composers, singers, musicians, and dancers who orbit her. I was also honoured to, very briefly, meet His Excellency Shri Hemant H. Kotalwar (India’s Ambassador to the Czech Republic) Zbraslav’s Mayor (Ing. Zuzana Vejvodová) and Deputy Mayor (Mgr. Michaela Bernardová)

I am apprised that there is a long tradition of erudite Czech Indology. In one  article (‘Czechoslovakia and India through the archives’, 2016) Radio Prague International reminded me that…

“The father of Indian studies in Prague was Vincenc Lesný, who, in the first half of the twentieth century, built up the study of Indian languages at the Charles  University,  along with Moriz Winternitz from Prague’s German University. Lesný and Winternitz were invited to India to lecture at the Visva Bharati University that had been set up by the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. Lesný was also responsible for two visits that Tagore paid to Prague in the 1920s.” Subsequently a bust of the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore was created by the contemporary Indian sculptor Gautam Pal, and erected to adorn the Thakurova area of Prague (zone 6).

In the early twentieth century (1920 in fact), a Czechoslovak Consulate had been established in Bombay, then another in Calcutta. Over more recent years Czechoslovakia’s (now the Czech Republic’s) Indian diaspora has continued to grow. The 8th Indo-Czech festival 2022 (organised by artist and Prague resident Papia Ghoshal), had purposely coincided with celebrations of the Hindu goddess ‘Durga’ (fondly called Maa Durga) and the ‘Durga Puja’ (the act of prayer).

The Hindu ritual of ‘Durga Puja’ is a celebration of the Goddess Durga/Shakti (relating to female energy and celebrating the victory of the goddess Durga over the demon king Mahishasura who had threatened the realm of the gods). The internet informs that “…the event is held during the month of Ashwin in the Indian calendar, which correlates to September–October in the Gregorian calendar. Durga Puja is really a ten- day celebration, with the last five days being the most important. The puja is done in both private and public settings, the latter of which includes a temporary stage with          llishments (known as pandals)”.

1. Zbraslav

Papia Ghoshal’s Indo-Czech Festival arrangements (in Prague's Zbraslav) had progressed. One Indian Classical dancer (Rajasudha Vinjamuri BCAa), arrived from the UK's Stansted Airport. We briefly spoke about her coming performance at The Ministry of Education's TJ Sokol (the PARKET dance and social Hall) which centred on Goddess Durga, the intricacies of the dance's symbolism and their meanings. We also spoke about some of the 'mudras' (hand gestures) involved in creating her dances and how they are linked to portray 'stories'.

Rajasudha Vinjamuri along with musicians/singers Papia Ghoshal; Shilpi Paul; Pranoy Chatterjee, and Arpan Bhattachary (who, defacto, comprised ‘the troupe’) greeted Shri Hemant H. Kotalwar (India’s Ambassador to the Czech Republic), Ing. Zuzana Vejvodová (Mayor), and Mgr. Michaela Bernardová (Deputy Mayor) to the celebrations.

Ms Ghoshal, who has won many awards for her paintings, film-making, poetry and performances had  been  responsible  for  that  Indo-Czech Autumn Festival for the past eight years. In an interview, she explained that she had started the celebration (which became the Indo-Czech Autumn Festival, where the Durga Puja is the main highlight), in 2015. At that time there was no discernible Bengali Indian community for such a puja in the Czech Republic

Papia   Ghoshal   had   previously   been commissioned  by  two  Puja  committees  in Kolkata, twice. Once in 2001 and again in 2003, to create Durga sculptures. This was at a time when Ms Ghoshal was still going back and forth to London and Kolkata, six months at a time. Then, as there was no way that she was able to take sculptures over from Kolkata (to Prague), she had made a small Durga statue (Durga Murti Sthapna, establishing a Sarbojanin idol for Durga Puja, made of Ganges clay) in Prague. Over the years, Ms Ghoshal built larger statue formations for the celebration of the Durga Puja.

For Ms Ghoshal, it was an emotional decision to start the Durga Puja Zbraslav, Prague 5. Her guruji (Pandit Baul Samrat Purna Das Baul) had suggested that she initiate a Durga Puja in Prague, as she was then living there. Ms Ghoshal invited Pandit Baul Samrat Purna Das Baul, his son (Bhagavan Das Baul) who is also a Baul singer and musician, his grandson and others to form a Baul group with her expressly for a two city concert called the Guru Shisha Paramparam (or teacher-student tradition). They subsequently performed across Europe, as well as Prague.

In the past few years, the Indo-Czech Autumn Festival had included film festivals as well as the concerts and worship, which have been a large part of that annual event over the eight years of its existence, and Ms Ghoshal’s involvement.

There  have  been  long  standing  local  and international supporters/practitioners of arts who aid that amazing series of events organised by India's Baul singer, performer, dancer, artist and poet Papia Ghoshal, and enabled by the various incarnations of her entourage.

2. Andel

That year’s troupe, who had taken part in the Zbradslav celebrations, were also featured in Andel’s ‘Experience India’ (effectively a street festival in ‘Pesi Zona’ or Pedestrian Zone of Andel, Prague.

In Andel’s pedestrianised area, myriad stalls selling Indian wares (including the obligatory saris)  continued  the  celebration  of  India’s seventy-five years of independence, for and with its diaspora.

For me Andel, Prague, had been momentarily and  instantaneously  transformed  into  my recollection, not of India, but of the ‘British Melas’ which had their origins in  good old Blighty, during the 1980s.

According to current wisdom Mela (n) in Sanskrit means ‘to meet’, to ‘gather’, to ‘blend’. For thirty years Indian fairs (or Melas), have inveigled themselves into mainstream British culture, enlightening those not too familiar with Indian culture outside of the Friday night, post- pub Indian (Bangladeshi) curry houses, and delighting those who are familiar and joyous in the sharing.

It was as if a Ryanair’s Boeing 737-800 had become Dr Who’s ‘Tardis’ and whisked me back from the Czech Republic to the British days of yore, with an assortment of Indian cultural celebrations. In the British Indian 

melas, dances had been Indian, classical and contemporary while singing ranged from Bollywood to Asian fusion, flavouring which ever British country park they had been set in.

On that pedestrianised street in Prague’s Andel, one Indian stall chose to call itself ‘Indian Street Food’, which had seemed entirely apt at the time, but a closer examination revealed a very Western take on Indian street food with its Pakoras, Samosas and Chicken Tika. Elsewhere on that ‘Indianised’ street was a Masala Dosa Sambar stall, and another selling Idli Sambar, Chicken Biriyani and ‘N rice wrap’ (whatever that was). I confess to loving Dosa (dosai/ Thosa/thosai). It is simply my favourite breakfast. But it wasn’t breakfast time. Although, thankfully, the ‘Balti’ dishes were absent, the beat pulsing Bhangra

rhythms were in evidence. Both the stage and the crowd danced to energetic beats. Indians and non-Indians leapt, strode or gracefully glided on that platform forming the

full-stop to the exclamation mark which the street naturally formed at the side of the Andel shopping area.

The two festivals (the Indo-Czech Autumn Festival and ‘Experience India) were poignant reminders of the marking of ‘Independence’ of India from colonial British rule, but also of the very close ties that the Czech republic has with India and the Indian peoples.

It had been an honour, and an intriguing experience to be there in Bohemia, and

doing what little I could to assist in those two festivals. I learned something of a different way of living. I (quiet literally) ingested more of Indian culture and had met new and exciting friends on that journey. I thank all of those amazing, creative individuals of various nations who had revealed great patience with me as a non-Hindi and non-Czech

speaker.