No More Learning

According to EugeneJolas's notes for an autobiography, "Pelorson was writing plays with a fascist tendency then and he would invite his friends to listen to his reading of them" (CtY, Eugene and MariaJolas Papers, GEN MS 108/Boxes 5-12 [Drafts of Man from Babel]; not included inJolas, Manfrom Babel).
SB had written to McGreevy on 11 February 1938: "I told Marcelle Pelorson bluntly at theJoyce party that I found Georges' editorials negative & far too angry & that a better title for the review, to judge by its appearances to date, would be Nolontes" (TCD, MS 10402/156). "Volontes" (acts of will), a noun ultimately derived from the Latin verb "velle" (to want); SB invents an antonym similarly derived from the Latin verb "nolle" (not to want): "Nolontes. "
"Cie. " (Co. ).
10 Nancy Cunard left to see Norman Douglas, who had been an expatriate in Florence for many years, but who left Italy hurriedly inJune 1937 on account of legal difficulties that were unresolved untilJanuary 1938, whereupon he decided he would remain in France (see Mark Holloway, Norman Douglas: A Biography [London: Secker and Warburg. 1976] 430-438).
Brian Howard.
11 TheLouvre'sSalledes7Metres,offtheStaircaseDarn,normallywouldhaveled directly into the Grande Galerie de Peinture; however, the adjacent portion of the
616
22 Avril {1938}, Reavey
Grande Galerie was closed, leaving access through the French rooms (at that time the Salle Daru, the Salle Denon, and the Salle des Etats, or possibly even a further detour through the Salle Moilien and the small galleries facing the Cour Lefuel).
It is not known to which painting by Carel Fabritius SB refers. Head ofan Elderly Man (Louvre, R. F. 3834) is a relatively small portrait (24 x 20. 7 cm); it was acquired by the Louvre in 1934 and is attributed to Carel Fabritius, but this attribution is considered doubtful by Christopher Brown (Carel Fabritius: Complete Edition with a Catalogue Raisonne [Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1981] 129). The Louvre did not own a painting by Carel's brother Barent Fabritius (1624-1673) at this time. Dutch painter Govaert Flinck (1615-1660).
The image of Vir. gin and Child (Louvre, R. F. 1112) by Florentine painter Alesso Baldovinetti (c. 1425-1499) was on the card SB had sent to George Reavey on 23 March 1938.
Florentine sculptor and painter Andrea de! Verrocchio (Andrea di Michele di Francesco Cioni, 1435 - c. 1488) was a pupil of Baldovinetti, whose workshop also included Leonardo da Vinci, Lorenzo di Credi (c. 1456-1536), Perugino, and Domenico Ghirlandaio. There are few paintings ascribed to Verrocchio and none in the Louvre; however, the association of his workshop may have been mentioned in the many depictions of "Virgin and Child" by da Vinci and his other pupils; Ghirlandaio's Vir. gin and Child (Louvre, R. F. 1266) is described by the Louvre as influenced by Verrocchio.
Andrea Mantegna's St. Sebastian (Louvre, R. F. 1766).
12 GreystonesisonthecoastinCo. Wicklow. FrankandJeanBeckettwereexpect­
ing their first child.
13 The Geer van Velde Exhibition at Guggenheim Jeune: 5 January 1938, n. 4. Geoffrey and Ursula Thompson.
14 Theself-portraitbyGustaveCourbettowhichSBrefersisManwiththeLeatherBelt (Louvre R. F. 339, now in the Musee d'Orsay); Titian's Portrait ofa Man is also known as Man with the Glove (Louvre, inv. 757).
GEORGE REAVEY LONDON
22 Avril (1938]
6 Rue des Favorites (Paris] 15me
Dear George
Thanks for letter & article, which I liked very much indeed,
though I find him less quietist than you suggest. However it is a
good line for the public. The Fabritius street-comer by the way in
the National is very Japanese.
1
617
22 Avril {1938}, Reavey
I hope some American mug takes Murphy soon. I want money very badly at the moment. 2 Keep the 50 fr till we meet.
I have been camping in the new place for the past week & am slowly getting installed. I like it. It is bright & there is a staircase to stagger up at night. I hope next time you come you will stay with me. 3
I had a letter from Peggy very worried about the triage of
pictures & anxious for the "Picassos" to be excluded as far as
possible. I replied telling her not to worry, that Geer's most
Picasso was about as Picasso as Dawson's ex-surrealist's arse.
She informs me further that she is using my note after all. And
4
vemissage is all I can say for certain. There is a possibility of my getting a free ride par les airs. 5
Must I see Routledge & Co? With nothing in my hand? 6
I wrote another French poem. Will the ELB publish Poems in French & English? 7
Love to you both Sam
ALS; 2 leaves, 2 sides; letterhead: LA ROYALE, 25, RUE ROYALE; TxU.
1 SBreferstoGeorgeReavey'sintroductionfortheGeervanVeldeExhibitionatthe Guggenheim Jeune ("Geer van Velde," London Bulletin 2 [May 1938] 16). Reavey writes: "In the case of Geer van Velde, the motive of desire is already dead because life has been lived unsparingly. In its place there is a timeless nostalgia, a sort of disembodied all-pervading harmony more akin to Chinese than to western European philosophy. "
SB refers to Carel Fabritius's painting A View ofDelft with Musical Instrument Seller's Stall in the National Gallery, London (NGL 3714).
2 ReaveywassendingMurphytoAmericanpublishers.
3 SBwritesfromhisnewapartment,6RuedesFavorites,Paris15. Itwasonthetop
floor and had inside stairs to a sleeping loft (see Knowlson, Damned to Fame, 265-266). 4 PeggyGuggenheimwantedtoexcludethosepaintingsbyGeervanVeldethatshe
felt were derived from Picasso's style; this may have prompted the final lines of SB's
618
my name. Tant pis pour tout le monde.
I am not sure when I shall arrive in London. In time for the
22 Avril {1938}, McGreevy
note introducing Geer van Velde's work: "Believes painting should mind its own business, i. e. colour. I. e. no more say Picasso than Fabritius. Vermeer. Or inversely" ("Geer van Velde," London Bulletin 2 ! May 1938] 15; rpt. Beckett, Disjecta, 117). SB's note on Geer van Velde is signed. "Tant pis pour tout le monde" (Too bad for everyone). The catalogue for the van Velde Exhibition appeared in the May issue of London Bulletin, which published the catalogues of three adjacent galleries on Cork Street (the London, the Major, and Guggenheim Jeune) ("Art: Popular Front," Cavalcade [21 May 1938] n. p. ).
Peter Norman Dawson (1902-1960), English surrealist painter, graphic artist and ceramicist. a member of the "London Group," and at this time Deputy Principal of the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, London; his work was included in the Contemporary Painting and Sculpture exhibition at Guggenheim Jeune, 21 June to2 July 1938.
5 The "vemissage" (private view) of theGeer van VeldeExhibition was held on 5 May 1938.
"Par Jes airs" (borne through the airs). On 28 April 1938, SB wrote to Reavey: "As there is no news of the flying-machine it is hard for me to say definitely when I arrive. But unless I am offered a free seat for Wednesday the 4! ! ! I shall be in London evening of Tuesday 3! ! ! " (TxU). And to McGreevy, 1 May 1938: "Will you reserve me a room at49 [HarringtonRoad] for Tuesday evening, if there is one to spare. I expect to arrive London about 6 p. m via Dieppe-Newhaven" (TCD, MS 10402/165).
6 RoutledgewasthepublisherofMurphy. T. M. Ragg,havingdealtexclusivelywith Reavey, had not met SB.
7 The French poem just written by SB has not been identified, but it is one of those published in the group "Poemes 38-39," Les Temps Modernes 288-293. Reavey's agency in London was theEuropean Literary Bureau; itsEuropa Press had published SB's first collection of poems, Echo's Bones and Other Precipitates. SB may be asking if
Reavey, now that he is based in London, would publish work that was in both French andEnglish.
THOMAS McGREEVY LONDON
22 Avril [1938]
6 Rue des Favorites Paris 15me
Dear Tom
Herewith my new address. I have been camping there for
the past week. People have been good with presents to get me started, but it is a terribly expensive business. I like the place, it
619
22 Avril {1938}, McGreevy
is bright & comfortable, & I like the quarter, well away from the
1
I have been living very quietly, seeing the Joyces a little, &
Brian a little, and one or two French people, & that is all. A
couple of poems in French in the last fortnight are the extent
of my work since coming to Paris. Peron's Soutes is publishing
2
I shall be in London for the van Velde exhibition, staying probably with Geoffrey. I would prefer to be independent at Harrington Road, but I am lamentably broke. 4 I don't expect I shall be able to afford more than a few days, which means I suppose my being rude to people I have no wish to be rude to.
Leventhal was over at Easter, also Aaronson, also Harry Johnson(. . . ] It is a great relief to be out of hotel, & in light & air
(7! ! ! floor, lift day & night).
Frank was ill but is all right again. 5 Mother melancholy. Write soon
Love ever Sam
ALS; 3 leaves, 3 sides; letterhead: LA ROYALE, 25, RUE ROYALE, Paris; TCD, MS 10402/160. Dating: from address.
1 6RuedesFavorites,neartheVaugirardmetrostationandoffRuedeVaugirard. 2 BrianCoffey.
None of SB's poems in French was published in either Soutes or Volontes.
3 GeorgesPelorsonandhiswifeMarcelle. Caligula:3April1938,n. 9.
4 Originally, SB had planned to stay with Geoffrey and Ursula Thompson in London, but by 28 April he wrote to Reavey that he would probably stay at Harrington Road where McGreevy had a room (TxU).
620
stage artists. I hope you will very soon come & stay with me.
one,&perhapsVolontestheother. IwasroundatthePelorsons['] one afternoon to hear Georges read his play Caligula - 4 acts & a prologue. 3 Very accomplished & very dull. He feels my lack of interest in his present work & we meet very seldom.
[. . . ]
12 May 1938, Ussher
5 Harry Johnson may refer to Henry John Johnson (n. d. ) who was an External Auditor at Trinity College Dublin from 1931, and received an MA jure officii in 1940 from TCD; Johnson was Head Cashier of the Bank of Ireland Qohn Luce, 31 August 1993, 12November 1993).
Frank Beckett.
ARLAND USSHER
12/5/38 6 Rue des Favorites
Paris 15me
Dear Arland
Thanks for letter and MS, which I liked. The image of the
long drop and the garters was the best I have seen for a long
time, much better than Herriot's "obsolete vitamins ofromanti­
cism". I gave them to my agent, without any great hope ofhis
being able to place them, though the metaphysico-political is
1
for the opening of my Dutch-Paris friend Geer van Velde his exhibition ofhand-paintings. 2 At the opening was the Koenigs, who said that her best energies in Berlin at one period were expended on deciphering my postcards to you. 3 The same eve­ ning at the Cafe Royal I ran into Morrison, green-foaming at the commissures after dinner ofthe TCD association. I saw him the next day at lunch in De Hems oyster paradise, fresh from a successful collaboration in the sterilisation of the wife of a colleague. He quoted the opening of a work on which he is engaged, a version ofthe Pentateuch in heroic couplets free in every sense rather anti-semitic in tone. This no doubt for the delectation of Aaronson and Voigt, who were present. Uncertain what sandwich to eat with his brandy, and being asked by the waitress did he not care for salmon, he said: "No, nor Gluckstein
621
exactly his line.
I have just returned from a week in London, where I went
12 May 1938, Ussher
either. " He attributed the word Erse to Chaucer and declared
that it was in this language that Moses received the decalogue,
from those parts of Jehovah that alone were visible, i. e. the
4
Scottishnovelist,leftearly. SodidI. Voigtremained,todrink and enlargen his experience. I thought he was a pleasant man,
and the more so a night or two later when he was good enough
to incorporate one of my humble and stammering ideas in a
wireless address. He quoted the opening of the Midnight Court
6
Reddin, English lawyer and English-Israelite backer. Cissie and
family expect to arrive in London in about a week. They met
Fleck in Cape Town where apparently he is having some
7
mentioned as the rising Provost. He hopes to place an article by
me on the divine marquise [for divin marquis] in Hermathena of
all places, where by the way Miss Maccarthy has suddenly begun
8
them. Why not send him others? I can arrange of course with
9
ipsis silemus) and French anacreontics. 10 Ew. Wohlgeb.
ergebenster Diener11 sf Sam
TIS; 1 leaf, 1 side; pencil signature; TxU.
622
hinder. And so on. A Mr Brown, I think Hilton Brown, a
5
in what was good enough for me.
I also ran into Harry Sinclair, complete with Norman
success.
Con was in Paris at Easter, as was Aaronson. He is being
to translate from Stefan Georg[e].
I spoke to Voigt of your essays and he became anxious to see
Reavey to pass on to him those he has.
I read nothing and write nothing, unless it is Kant (de nobis
1 ArlandUssher had sent SB the manuscript ofhis essay "The Age ofShadows" which addressed the transition from the eighteenth century to the twentieth:
In the eighteenth century the static world ofantiquity had broken thread after thread that suspended it from the arch ofheaven, until it hung by a single gossamer; now the last thread has snapped . . . Then came a first collision, the Great War; and since then we have become a little still, a little frightened. Yet most are drunken with the intoxication ofspeed, though a few are trying to attach the careering world to some subjective absolute of the Beautiful or the Useful (which is like hoping to break one's fall by pulling at one's own garters). (ArlandUssher. "Three Essays," Nineteenth Century and After 124. 742 [December 1938] 736-737)
SB comparesUssher's images to those ofFrench politician and writer Edouard Herriot (1872-1957), who studied at the Ecole Normale Superieure. The source ofthe phrase "obsolete vitamins ofromanticism" is not known. SB gaveUssher's essays to George Reavey.
2 Geer van Velde's exhibition at Guggenheim Jeune; it is not known what SB intends by "hand-paintings. "
3 Mrs. Koenig,whoknewUssherinBerlin,hasnotbeenidentified.
4 EdwardMorrison(1897-1968),aphysiciantrainedatTrinityCollegeDublinand practicing at this time in London; his anti-Semitic attitude is evident in a letter to Ussher written on 7 January 1939 (TCD, MS 9037/2597), decryingUssher's intention to
house Jewish refugees in Ireland.
De Hems Pub, 11 Macclesfield Street, Soho, London, called attention to its specialty
with oyster shells on its walls.
Morrison's authorship ofa version ofthe Pentateuch is SB's invention.
Lazarus Aaronson, who was Jewish.
Frederick Augustus Voigt (1892-1957), Editor of Nineteenth Century and After
from 1936 to 1946 and a regular commentator on the BBC.
Voigt's anti-Nazi stance was articulated in his book Unto Caesar: On Political Tendencies in Modem Europe (1938).
The London catering firm ofJ. Lyons and Co. was begun by the Salmon and Gluckstein families (Isador Gluckstein, 1851-1920; Montague Gluckstein, 1854-1922; Barney Salmon, 1829-1897; Alfred Salmon, 1868-1928); they collaborated with Joseph Lyons (1847-1917) whose name was adopted for the company.
"Erse" (the Irish language) is linked by Morrison to the spelling of"arse" used by Geoffrey Chaucer.
5 Scottish novelist Charles Hilton Brown (1890-1961), whose short stories were frequently broadcast by the BBC.
6 FrederickVoigt'sWorldAffairstalkontheBBCon9May1938,"TheRomeTalks. " was the first that followed SB's meeting with him on 5 May. It is not known what he may have incorporated in it from SB's conversation, and there is no quotation ofthe comic poem in Gaelic by Brian Merriman (c. 1745-1805). Voight must have declaimed the opening ofThe Midnight Court (Cuirt an Mheadhon Oidhche, 1780) that evening, for it was not part ofhis radio talk.
623
12 May 1938, Ussher
12 May 1938, Ussher
7 Gerard Norman Reddin (1896-1942), a lawyer and playwright, active with the Irish Theatre in Dublin and a founding Director of the Gate Theatre .
Cissie Sinclair and her two youngest daughters were returning from South Africa via London to Dublin. German artist Otto Julius Carl Fleck (1902-1960) studied at the Kassel Academy under Ewald Dulberg and knew the Sinclairs when they lived in Kassel; he later worked as an art restorer with several major collections in Cape Town and Johannesburg, and had an exhibition of his work in 1938 in Johannesburg.
8 There is no evidence that Leventhal was a candidate for Provost at Trinity College Dublin at this time, although he was working editorially with the TCD review Hennathena.
SB's interest in Sade makes this a likely subject; however, Hennathena did not publish an essay by SB. The Marquis de Sade has sometimes been referred to as "le divin marquis. " although here SB, inexplicably, uses the feminine form.
Ethna Maccarthy published the translation ofan untitled poem from the German by Stefan George that begins "Wir schreiten aufund ab im reichen flitter . . . "("Under the beech trees we patrolled . . . "), within the section of poetry entitled "Kottabistae" (Hennathena. 51 [May 1938] 152-153).
9 VoightlaterpublishedthreeessaysbyUssherinNineteenthCenturyandAfter(see n. 1 above).
10 SB's set ofthe complete works ofKant: 5 January 1938, n. 13. "De nobis ipsis silemus" (Of ourselves we are silent). SB quotes from the epigraph to Kant's First Critique of Reason (Immanuel Kant, Immanuel Kants Werke III, Kritik der Reinen Vemunft, ed. Albert Garland [Berlin: Bruno Cassirer, 1922] [unpaginated]).
11 "Ew. Wohlgeb. " ([Ehrwiirden Wohlgeboren]. most noble sir), "ergebenster Diener"(most humble servant).
THOMAS McGRE EVY LONDON
26! ! ! May [1938]
6 Rue des Favorites Paris 15me
Dear Tom
Forgive my not writing before. It has been people, people,
people, until I wonder what horrible thing has happened to me that I have so little peace any more. Peggy turned up & had a lot to say about some contract with van Velde. Then
624
he turned up, with his account. You know how interested I am in such things. I told Peggy what you thought of the Reavey con­ tretemps. She seems to have cooled off on the matter. Van Velde does not seem to realise what she has done for him and I must say, after having heard both sides of the business, that he seems to have been rather unwarrantedly avaricious. He is naif enough to think that his market value in London is now considerable & that people like Mesens & Zwemmer have a real interest in his painting. I understand that he wants security to work undis­ turbed for a year, but to press for 250 guineas instead of 250 pounds is a pettiness that doesn't fit in at all with the rest of him. Anyhow I am tired of the whole thing. 1
I had rather shocking news from Frank about mother. Apparently she was reading in bed by candle-light (it is so pathetic to think of her going back to the candle for no reason that I can imagine except that that was how she read in bed 30 years ago), fell asleep over the book & woke up to find the sheets on fire. She succeeded in putting it out but seems to have burnt her hands badly. Of course she kept it from me. I feel sorry for her often to the point of tears. That is the part that was not analysed away, I suppose.
Jean is due in 5 weeks. 2 Frank writes rapturously of lying about in the garden in the sun among the sweet pea & the roses. Happy youth.
Have seen practically nothing of Brian. The last occasion, about a week ago, I had an appointment to meet him at the Rond Point & found him instead in the bar of the Coupole with McCalmon [for McAlmon] & Co. , excitedly loquacious. He remarked to me when at last I got him away that he found those people "very important", the amalgam of emotion & intel­ ligence "very important", & appeared not to like it when I said
625
26 May {1938}, McGreevy
26 May {1938}, McGreevy
I could find no trace of either emotion or intelligence. On Tuesday he went down to the Vallee de Chevreuse to stay with
McCalmon. I am sorry to see him moving in that direction. His conversation is derogating to the kind of thing one said at 17, - if I'm not dead in 2 years I'll join the foreign legion, etc. I have forgotten the answers. 3
I have not seen the Duncans at all & never go near the Flore or Zeyer. I suppose I must have them to tea. 4 Helen, Giorgio & Peggy were round to see the place yesterday & we dined at Villa Scheffer & went out afterwards. I haven't seen the parents for over a week. The last time was at a party given by Helen, the
usual crowd plus Nino Frank, who declaimed the Italian trans­
lation of Anna Livia. Then all the old songs & the old stupors.
Quel ennui. Helen & Giorgio have not spoken much of you. Last
night he was recalling with brandy melancholy the times in
1928-9 when you were so often round at Rue Huysmanns (for
5
when they get up, keep it on till they go out, & tum it on again when they come in. One morning it waked me at 7 a. m. I must put up with it.
I am very tired & have been feeling the left side a little.
Nothing to worry about but rather discouraging. Nothing in
the way of work but a long poem in French that you would not
6
But you would not agree with me.
I enjoyed our afternoon very much indeed, and have often
9
Huysmans].
A terrible wireless has started next door. They tum it on
likeIfear. GallimardrejectedMurphy. 7
I have read Sartre's Nausee & find it extraordinarily good. 8
thoughtsinceoftheSaliba&theToulouse-Lautrecs. Bymyself I have not the energy to get to these places.
626
26 May {1938], McGreevy
I wrote about a fortnight ago to Pelorson putting off an
engagement & asking him to name any other day. Since then
I have heard nothing from him, except the 5! h no. ofVolontes, 1
considerably more ignominious than any of the former ones. 0
God love thee. Remember ifyou are coming to Paris, & ifit
can be managed without offence to the Lur�ats, there is a wel­
11
12
Ever Sam
ALS; 4 leaves, 4 sides; tom left edge, 1938 added in AH; TCD, MS 10402/162. Dating: from birth of Frank Beckett's daughter Caroline on 26June 1938.
1 Because of her interest in SB, Guggenheim agreed to show Geer van Velde's work. The good sales of the paintings in the exhibition were probably due to her generosity: his "paintings were bought up by Peggy under assumed names" (Weld, Peggy, 161).
The contretemps between Reavey and Peggy Guggenheim is undocumented.
Belgian artist, writer, and gallery director Edouard Leon Theodore Mesens (1903-1971) was Director of the London Gallery, 28 Cork Street, from 1938 to 1940; he had been among the organizers of the 1936 Surrealist Exhibition in London, and he edited London Bulletin (1938-1940). Dutch-born art dealer Anton Zwemmer (1892-1979) was the owner of the fine art bookstore and gallery Zwemmer's; Zwemmer·s became "the rendez-vous of painters, poets, novelists" (Geoffrey Grigson, Anton Zwemmer: Tributes from Some of his Friends on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday [London: privately printed, 1962] 7-8; rpt. Geoffrey Grigson, Recollections: Mainly of Writers & Artists [London: Chatto and Windus / Hogarth Press, 1984] 39).
Geer van Velde's expectation that he would be paid in guineas rather than in pounds meant a difference of 250 shillings; possibly the gallery listed prices for his paintings in guineas, producing this misunderstanding. At that time it was customary in auc­ tions for a bidder to pay in guineas and for the vendor to be paid in pounds (with the auctioneer or the dealer retaining the difference).
2 Jean and Frank Beckett's daughter Caroline was born on 26June 1938.
3 TheCafeduRondPointisconnectedwiththetheatreofthesamename(onwhat is now Avenue Franklin Roosevelt). Possibly SB meant Cafe de La Rotonde, 105 Boulevard du Montparnasse, which is just across the street from the Coupole, 102 Boulevard du Montparnasse.
627
come for you here.
Love to Hester & Dilly.
26 May {1938}, McGreevy
Robert McA! mon's companions have not been identified; at that time McA! mon lived in Dampierre in the Vallee de Chevreuse, which was then in the department of Seine-et-Oise; since 1974 it is in the department ofYvelines.
4 AlanandBelindaDuncan,whowerewithSBwhenhewasstabbedwhilewalking from the Cafe Zeyer, were also habitues of the Cafe de Flore.
5 Helen and Giorgio Joyce, together with Peggy Guggenheim, visited SB's new apartment. The Joyces' home was on Villa Scheffer.
Nino Frank and Joyce had done the Italian translation of"Anna Livia Plurabelle" from Finnegans Wake, the section for which SB and Peron had drafted a French translation.
"Que! ennui" (What a bore).
Giorgio Joyce had occupied an apartment in the Rue Huysmans.
6 It is not known to which of the "Poemes 38-39" SB refers, or if he refers to another that was unpublished.
7 SB's news of Gallimard's rejection of Murphy had been received indirectly: a letter from Routledge to George Reavey on 9 May 1938 indicated that Gallimard had sent a letter to SB c/o Routledge in London, which was received on 9 May 1938, opened by mistake, and then sent on to George Reavey (UoR, Routledge 1733). The Gallimard rejection letter has not been found, and it is not known if SB actually saw it.
8 LaNausee(1938;Nausea)byJean-PaulSartre(1905-1980).
9 SB may refer to the topics raised in conversation with McGreevy during the period when he was in London for the opening of the Geer van Velde Exhibition (early May 1938).
There had been a Toulouse-Lautrec Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings from the Albi Museum at the Knoedler Gallery, London, from 19 January to 10 February 1938; McGreevy reviewed it in"Shows in Short," The Studio 115. 541 (April 1938) 223. Although it is not known if McGreevy had been in Paris, an exhibition of French painting from Corot to Toulouse-Lautrec, La Peinture fram;aise en Suisse, opened on 18 May 1938 at the Gazette des Beaux-Arts gallery.
McGreevy's interest in the Sicilian painters Antonio de Saliba (c. 1466 - c. 1535) and Pietro de Saliba (fl. 1497-1530) is not documented. The brothers were part of the workshop of their uncle Antonello da Messina and often copied his work. (Gioacchino Barbera, "The Life and Works of Antonello da Messina" in Antonello da Messina: Sicily's Renaissance Master, ed. Gioacchino Barbera [NewYork: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006] 30). One of the few documented works of Pietro de Saliba is Christ at the Column (Budapest, Szepmiiveszeti Muzeum, 1156); it is a copy of the painting by Antonello da Messina in the Louvre (R. F. 1992-10).
10 Volontes 5 (May 1938) published: Pierre Gueguen,"Interim"; Paul Ibos,"Cribles"; Eugene Jolas, "Teletype"; Henry Miller, "L'Oeil cosmologique"; Georges Pelorson, "Le Theatre et ! es moeurs"; Raymond Queneau, "De Jean Coste et ! 'experience poetique" and"Paisan qui va-t-en ville"; Camille Schuwer,"Sujets de poemes impossibles"; and Dr. Madeleine Violet, "Lumiere et sante: un dispensaire d'hygiene infantile a Menilmontant. "
11 McGreevyoftenstayedwithhisfriendJeanLur�atwhenhevisitedParis. 12 HesterDowdenandherfriendGeraldineCummins(Dilly).
628
THOMAS McGREEVY LONDON
15/6/38 6 Rue des Favorites Paris 15me
DearTom
Thanks for your letter and Inquirer.
Nothing ofnote here. Aaronson & his girl passed through, on
their way back from Dijon, where he says there are Konrad
Witzes. I always regret not having seen the Museum when I had
the chance, but I was with Frank, who refused to go to Albi
from Toulouse another time! I ate with them near St. Lazare. He
was stupefied by futilities of Wireless Jennings [for Jenkins],
whose article in the last Bulletin was in the best traditionalist
2
passingthecustomsattheGaredesBatignolles. Noduty. Sofar I have no shelves to receive them. The one estimate from a carpenter I got was so high that I couldn't think of giving him the work, & I shall have to try & rig up something myself.
Peggy Guggenheim is here with car but I have not been
seeing her. Nor the van Veldes for that matter. Nor the Joyces.
The last time I dined with the parents, about a fortnight ago,
they had a dreadful Swiss woman, proprietress of the Fouquets
4
After not having seen Brian for some time I dined with him last Monday. He has turned to Gouaches, for which he appears to have some talent. He had had a cheerful letter from Denis. He is giving a cocktail party next Friday in one of the
629
15June 1938, McGreevy
1
tradition.
My books arrived, 3 crates, and I had a tedious afternoon
3
of Zurich, & her son. 11 y a des limites.
[. . . ]
15 June 1938, McGreevy
Americans' flats; I tried to get out of it but fear in the end I shall
5
A subscription list has been opened to buy a picture & present it
to the Jeu de Paume. I noticed that Laugier & Lur�at had both
subscribed. The picture in question is a very fine one, far & away
the best in the show. There is also a very beautiful sculpture in
the little garden in front of the gallery. I met him once a couple
6
offering to go over from mid-July to mid-August & this time suits
her. She has let Cooldrinagh from beginning of September for
4 months & will spend that time I suppose in her little house
7
have to go. He is leaving here at end of month.
I went to Otto Freundlich's exhibition at Jeanne Bucher[']s.
ofmonthsago&foundhimverysympathetic. IwrotetoMother
On the way back I shall bring my bike, 8
at Greystones harbour.
take boat to St. Malo and ride across the peninsula and the Loire
toSt. BrevinwherePeronisspendinghisholidays. Asyoucan imagine I am not anxious to go to Ireland, but as long as mother lives I shall go every year.
I continue to be comfortable here, though the noises - babies & wireless - break my heart some times.
I enclose the last few poems in French. When I have enough
9
offended at my not having contrived to see her.
up in vain! She will also be in Ireland with her daughters in August.
Love ever Sam
Ascension
a travers la mince cloison ce jour 011 un enfant
630
I thought of taking them to Eluard.
Not a word from Geoffrey. My cousin Sheila wrote not at all
10
I told her I rang
prodigue a sa fa�on
rentra dans sa famille j'entends la voix
elle est emue elle commente la coupe du monde de football
toujours trop jeune
en meme temps par la fenetre ouverte par les airs tout court
sourdement
la houle des fideles
son sang gicla avec abondance
sur les draps sur les pois de senteur sur son mec
de ses doigts infects il ferma les paupieres sur les grands yeux verts etonnes
en re<;:oit-il une colombe aussi souvent que moi
LaMouche
entre le monde et moi la vitre
vide sauf elle
ventre a terre
sanglee dans ses boyaux noirs
antennes affolees ailes liees
pattes crochues bouche su<;:ant a vide sabrant l'azur s'ecrasant contre l'invisible sous mon pouce impuissant elle fait chavirer la mer et le ciel serein
15 June 1938, McGreevy
631
15 June 1938, McGreevy
Priere
musique de ! 'indifference
coeur temps air feu sable
du silence eboulement d'amours couvre leurs voix
et que je ne m'entende plus
me taire
ALS; 2 leaves, 5 sides; TCD, MS 10402/163. Note: although "Ascension," "La Mouche," and "Priere" are included with MS 10402/155, it is unlikely that they were originally enclosed with /155 because the folds on the poems do not match those of the letter. However, the folds and the bum/water damage on left margin of the enclosure do match those on the present MS 10402/163.
1 McGreevy'sletteranditsenclosurehavenotbeenfound.
2 LazarusAaronson'scompanionwasDorothyLewin(n. d. )whobecamehissecond wife.
The paintings in the collection of the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Dijon by Konrad Witz are a double-sided panel from the Altarpiece ofthe Mirror ofSalvation (see 26 March 1937, n. 5): The Emperor Augustus and the Sibyl ofTibur (D 161 A) and Saint Augustin (D 161B).
In 1931 SB had stopped in Dijon with his brother as they traveled back to Paris from the south ofFrance; he wrote to McGreevy in the first week ofAugust: "We went slowly back to Paris by Digne, Grenoble, Annecy, Dijon, Troyes" (after 2 August 1931 - 8 August 1931, TCD, MS 10402/12). By this point in their travels, as SB indicates with his reference to Albi, which is 47 miles northeast ofToulouse, Frank Beckett was not interested in pursuing SB's interests in art.
SB conflates the monthly newspaper entitled The Herbert Jenkins' Wireless [London] with Humphrey Jennings, whose article "The Iron Horse" asserts: "The 'abstract' painter identifies himselfor the person in his picture with a machine"; he concludes: "The point ofcreating pseudomachines was not as an exploitation ofmachinery but as a 'profanation' of'Art' parallel to the engineers' 'profanation' of the primitive 'sacred places' of the earth" (London Bulletin 3 Uune 1938] 22, 27-28).
3 TheGaredesBatignollesatRuedeRomeandRueCardinet,Paris17,nexttothe Gare aux Marchandises, where freight was cleared through Customs.