Great post, Deborah! I watched the Hardy programme - yes it was sad, and the second wife must have suffered terribly. I'm just thinking about reading EJH. I've only ever read After Julius, a long time ago, and I think I'm the only woman in the UK who hasn't read the Cazalet books.
I did love the Cazalets, but enjoyed her earlier work more - I know they were far more successful! She was a very knowledgeable gardener too and used to write a column in Woman's Journal - I loved it!
PS has anyone written a book …The Women of the Slade because I keep tripping over them and wanting to know more. Most recently Dod Procter whose mother Eunice Shaw (née Richards)went there.
Beautiful and fascinating post and so many connections to explore.
Given the friendship with Tirzah Garwood I’m reminded of the sacrifices Tirzah made in her marriage to Eric Ravilious and how her own art was also subsumed by it. And how patiently these women seemed to cope with it. I remember feeling an odd sort of rage on Tirzah’s behalf when I read Long Live Great Bardfield.
You remind me to go back to the EJH shelf too. I read a lot a while back but I’m sure there are still some I haven’t read. The Cazalets dramatisation kept me sane on the long flight to New Zealand. I’d doze off and wake up and be right back in it again.
I will write about her in the new year after my visit. Yes you are right about that composition! One thing I forgot to put in was that just after Christine's death, John Nash said to Ronald Blythe that he was completely out of socks and what in earth was he was to do? ( she had laid out his clothes each day. ) Ronald found a drawer in John's bedside cabinet filled of neatly rolled pairs!
I am very much hoping to go to see the exhibition of Tirzah Garwood's work, which I think is marvellous, and I am so glad she is now receiving recognition. What I didn't mention is that Ravilious had an affair with Helen Binyon and then later with John Nash, so both women forged a friendship of understanding and even went on a trip to Paris together. Neither were treated well. I love the Cazalets and must relisten! As far as I know there is no such book, but there are many great women artists from this period worth exploring.
Thank you for sharing the story of Christine Kuhlenthal. Another lady that has been kept hidden by history. It is one of those tales where you wonder how things would have worked out for Christine if other opportunities had come her way.
Yes, her name appeared so often, frequently mentioned supporting other artists. I think her life drawing extraordinary. Thank you very much for reading it.
Thank you, Deborah for such an enjoyable post! All you share here is so interesting and informative and always provides exciting "rabbit holes" to journey down. Last Friday I was lucky enough to go to the Old Library in Colchester to hear Ian Collins talk about Ronald Blythe and the biography IC has just published. Earmarked as a xmas present from one of my sons. Cannot wait to read it! Xx Sarah
Thank you very much, Sarah. I am very envious about the talk. He was meant to be speaking at Norwich, but it was cancelled at the last minute and I was so disappointed. I am so looking forward to the book too! Xx
What a terribly sad story of a gifted woman who apparently did not question the sacrifice of her gifts to the standards of her time. Judith Leysters, of the Dutch Golden Age, was another (among many). She left a dazzling self-portrait of herself at her easel before disappearing into marriage and motherhood.
It is very sad. I worried that I was imposing my own views on her choice, but she was such a promising artist and I felt that it was given up and that choice unappreciated. I will look up Judith Letters, thank you. I suspect there are so many that tell a similar story.
Isnt it extraordinary that she should suddenly appear in all our minds? She also had a brilliant gardening column in "Woman's Journal" ( they are in the loft somewhere...)Thank you very much, this was quite a tricky one to do.
Aarrrh Christine Kuhlenthal, that rings a bell I thought to myself as I read your opening sentence. No, don’t tell me, I said , as I stopped reading to make a coffee. Yes, Christine Kuhlenthal wife of John Nash, friend of Carrington, champion of Ronald Blythe, all of which you said when I started reading your post again. It was lovely to read a post about her, a woman who as you say was on the edges of so many other’s lives (or rather books on other’s lives). Thank you, I enjoy your posts so much. ❤️
Thank you very much, Ruth. I love John Nash's work, and the exhibition was incredible, but I kept thinking of her and the role she played while walking around.
fascinating and beautifully written. some interesting leads and artists i had never heard of before. personally, I find "the picnic" absolutely captivating as a painting. its a skill a do not possess and of which I am always in awe.
wow - 20! - I suppose I should have worked that out from your article! One gets a sense of the magnitude of unrecognised female endeavour in those times. It's sad that even today, this exists. I wonder what the proportions, by gender, the submissions to Substack woudl break down to - I suppose they mut have the data somewhere! Anyway, I did so much enjoy a forray today out of my horror and sci-fiction corner. Good to broaden the mind!
Gosh - so much to absorb here. Thanks so much for enlightening me about Christine. I only knew her through Ronald's writing so it’s great to have a bit of a light shone on her. I was cleaning my bookshelves this morning and wasted half an hour as I got to the Cazalets…I sat in my bed duster in hand and opened one..time stood still.
Loved reading this and discovering yet another new to me artist through you. Alas not read somewhere lovely on a Thursday morning as I stayed at home to finish a drawing.
I’m going to see the Tirzah Garwood exhibition next week which I’m really looking forward to. I’ve been very late discovering artists of this era and have so much catching up to do.
I need to start reading Substack more too, there’s so many good things to read. X
I am so looking forward to seeing it as I have loved her work got such a long time and it will be such a treat to see the originals. There is the Vanessa Bell exhibition at Milton Keynes too and hope I can get there! X
This was enthralling but also rather sad. I loved the painting "The Picnic" by Christine Kuhlenthal. She seems to have been a more interesting artist than her husband (who was certainly inferior to his brother, Paul, whose work I've long admired).
I admit as my research progressed, I was concerned at its sadness. The exhibition of John Nash's work took me by surprise, it was far better than I anticipated, especially his wood engravings and drawings. But the early works of Paul Nash are marvellous, especially Wittenham Clumps. I promise to bring a cheerier post next time!
What a brilliant piece, Deborah! I know exactly what you mean about having to suppress your feelings of rage in how Christine's talents were effectively suppressed - she was clearly a fighter, but what sadness she had losing her son like that. I recently saw a photo of a blue plaque marking the house in which John Nash lived with 'Christine' - even now, she doesn't get a surname of her own. (Of course Ronal Blythe gets his own plaque there - I assume it was Bottengoms but can't find the photo now, alas.) Interesting report about the house in this week's Guardian:
I found the ease with which she left her talent so sad. She put up with so much and yet she was such a support to others. I am unsurprised about the plaque, she and will have to see if I can find it. Thank you for the article, I am relieved his home is going to be a reserve, and not a private home. Hopefully we will be able to visit!
Hey, this was fascinating, not only for the scope of information you give us about Kuhlenthal but, and maybe even more so, for the way in which you shape it in your own voice (and I say that after having g read the piece, rather than playing the voiceover) so that it is so much more than a string of facts and nots on her work (which is engaging … and in The Annunciation extraordinary).
We exchanged brief notes recently about Elizabeth Jane Howard. My sense is that, at moments, she was indeed recognised and lauded as a wonderful novelist but that, over time, she may have slipped, her subject matter may have slipped, her incisiveness may have slipped into a sort of shadow realm.
What a cheering comment to receive, thank you very much. I found it hard to quash my frustration at Nash and was concerned at being rather too partial. The two paintings that survive, from her Slade days, are remarkable nad heaven knows what she could have gone on to accomplish.
I think the milieu Elizabeth Jane Howard writes about has resulted in her being less fashionable, but as you say, it doesn’t lessen her incisive writing and observation.
An interesting story that literally had my stomach churning as I read of her devotion to supporting him. A year or so into my marriage , my then partner pronounced “there’s only room for one artist in this family”. That was the beginning of the end.
I confess to feeling the same as I wrote. It was the most difficult of the pieces I have written about here, partly because I found it so hard to be impartial - it is impossible not to be furious at John Nash. Following the death of their son, he had an affair with Helen Binyon, which caused Christine great distress and there were many other details - far too many to include. But, it is a common story, as your experience shows and I know that such obstacles still remain for women artists.
Great post, Deborah! I watched the Hardy programme - yes it was sad, and the second wife must have suffered terribly. I'm just thinking about reading EJH. I've only ever read After Julius, a long time ago, and I think I'm the only woman in the UK who hasn't read the Cazalet books.
I did love the Cazalets, but enjoyed her earlier work more - I know they were far more successful! She was a very knowledgeable gardener too and used to write a column in Woman's Journal - I loved it!
PS has anyone written a book …The Women of the Slade because I keep tripping over them and wanting to know more. Most recently Dod Procter whose mother Eunice Shaw (née Richards)went there.
Beautiful and fascinating post and so many connections to explore.
Given the friendship with Tirzah Garwood I’m reminded of the sacrifices Tirzah made in her marriage to Eric Ravilious and how her own art was also subsumed by it. And how patiently these women seemed to cope with it. I remember feeling an odd sort of rage on Tirzah’s behalf when I read Long Live Great Bardfield.
You remind me to go back to the EJH shelf too. I read a lot a while back but I’m sure there are still some I haven’t read. The Cazalets dramatisation kept me sane on the long flight to New Zealand. I’d doze off and wake up and be right back in it again.
And I’m sure I read somewhere that Eric was stuck with the perspective of the picture of the railway carriage and Tirzah sorted it out for him!
I will write about her in the new year after my visit. Yes you are right about that composition! One thing I forgot to put in was that just after Christine's death, John Nash said to Ronald Blythe that he was completely out of socks and what in earth was he was to do? ( she had laid out his clothes each day. ) Ronald found a drawer in John's bedside cabinet filled of neatly rolled pairs!
I am very much hoping to go to see the exhibition of Tirzah Garwood's work, which I think is marvellous, and I am so glad she is now receiving recognition. What I didn't mention is that Ravilious had an affair with Helen Binyon and then later with John Nash, so both women forged a friendship of understanding and even went on a trip to Paris together. Neither were treated well. I love the Cazalets and must relisten! As far as I know there is no such book, but there are many great women artists from this period worth exploring.
And Tirzah’s paper marbling things of beauty too. Found an article about the Slade women so a few more names to explore.
Do let me know where I can find it!
Thank you for sharing the story of Christine Kuhlenthal. Another lady that has been kept hidden by history. It is one of those tales where you wonder how things would have worked out for Christine if other opportunities had come her way.
Yes, her name appeared so often, frequently mentioned supporting other artists. I think her life drawing extraordinary. Thank you very much for reading it.
Thank you, Deborah for such an enjoyable post! All you share here is so interesting and informative and always provides exciting "rabbit holes" to journey down. Last Friday I was lucky enough to go to the Old Library in Colchester to hear Ian Collins talk about Ronald Blythe and the biography IC has just published. Earmarked as a xmas present from one of my sons. Cannot wait to read it! Xx Sarah
Thank you very much, Sarah. I am very envious about the talk. He was meant to be speaking at Norwich, but it was cancelled at the last minute and I was so disappointed. I am so looking forward to the book too! Xx
What a terribly sad story of a gifted woman who apparently did not question the sacrifice of her gifts to the standards of her time. Judith Leysters, of the Dutch Golden Age, was another (among many). She left a dazzling self-portrait of herself at her easel before disappearing into marriage and motherhood.
It is very sad. I worried that I was imposing my own views on her choice, but she was such a promising artist and I felt that it was given up and that choice unappreciated. I will look up Judith Letters, thank you. I suspect there are so many that tell a similar story.
Thank you Deborah for the lovely mention! The Long View: masterpiece. And EJH is possibly the best Desert I Discs I ever heard....
But Christine, oh my goodness. What a story. Wonderfully told. As always!
Isnt it extraordinary that she should suddenly appear in all our minds? She also had a brilliant gardening column in "Woman's Journal" ( they are in the loft somewhere...)Thank you very much, this was quite a tricky one to do.
I can imagine. But you weave a beautiful portrait from those threads, bravo!
Thank you, I had paper everywhere!
Aarrrh Christine Kuhlenthal, that rings a bell I thought to myself as I read your opening sentence. No, don’t tell me, I said , as I stopped reading to make a coffee. Yes, Christine Kuhlenthal wife of John Nash, friend of Carrington, champion of Ronald Blythe, all of which you said when I started reading your post again. It was lovely to read a post about her, a woman who as you say was on the edges of so many other’s lives (or rather books on other’s lives). Thank you, I enjoy your posts so much. ❤️
Thank you very much, Ruth. I love John Nash's work, and the exhibition was incredible, but I kept thinking of her and the role she played while walking around.
fascinating and beautifully written. some interesting leads and artists i had never heard of before. personally, I find "the picnic" absolutely captivating as a painting. its a skill a do not possess and of which I am always in awe.
Thank you very much, Nick, and what a cheering message to receive! I think it is a remarkable painting and extraordinary for someone 20 years old.
wow - 20! - I suppose I should have worked that out from your article! One gets a sense of the magnitude of unrecognised female endeavour in those times. It's sad that even today, this exists. I wonder what the proportions, by gender, the submissions to Substack woudl break down to - I suppose they mut have the data somewhere! Anyway, I did so much enjoy a forray today out of my horror and sci-fiction corner. Good to broaden the mind!
I think things have changed less than it would have been hoped! Thank you very much for taking the time to read it.
Gosh - so much to absorb here. Thanks so much for enlightening me about Christine. I only knew her through Ronald's writing so it’s great to have a bit of a light shone on her. I was cleaning my bookshelves this morning and wasted half an hour as I got to the Cazalets…I sat in my bed duster in hand and opened one..time stood still.
Ronald Blythe clearly owed so much to her kindness and support. She seemed such a generous friend to have.
They are a joy, aren't they? I confess I am unsure about someone else picking up the reins of the Chronicles, but I would be very happy to be wrong.
I felt that when Jill Peyton Walsh wrote some new Peter Wimsey stories, but they are really good!
Yes, there were!
Loved reading this and discovering yet another new to me artist through you. Alas not read somewhere lovely on a Thursday morning as I stayed at home to finish a drawing.
I’m going to see the Tirzah Garwood exhibition next week which I’m really looking forward to. I’ve been very late discovering artists of this era and have so much catching up to do.
I need to start reading Substack more too, there’s so many good things to read. X
Thank you, Cally.
I am so looking forward to seeing it as I have loved her work got such a long time and it will be such a treat to see the originals. There is the Vanessa Bell exhibition at Milton Keynes too and hope I can get there! X
This was enthralling but also rather sad. I loved the painting "The Picnic" by Christine Kuhlenthal. She seems to have been a more interesting artist than her husband (who was certainly inferior to his brother, Paul, whose work I've long admired).
I admit as my research progressed, I was concerned at its sadness. The exhibition of John Nash's work took me by surprise, it was far better than I anticipated, especially his wood engravings and drawings. But the early works of Paul Nash are marvellous, especially Wittenham Clumps. I promise to bring a cheerier post next time!
What a brilliant piece, Deborah! I know exactly what you mean about having to suppress your feelings of rage in how Christine's talents were effectively suppressed - she was clearly a fighter, but what sadness she had losing her son like that. I recently saw a photo of a blue plaque marking the house in which John Nash lived with 'Christine' - even now, she doesn't get a surname of her own. (Of course Ronal Blythe gets his own plaque there - I assume it was Bottengoms but can't find the photo now, alas.) Interesting report about the house in this week's Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/16/ronald-blythe-home-nature-reserve-akenfield
I found the ease with which she left her talent so sad. She put up with so much and yet she was such a support to others. I am unsurprised about the plaque, she and will have to see if I can find it. Thank you for the article, I am relieved his home is going to be a reserve, and not a private home. Hopefully we will be able to visit!
Yes, I would love to visit. Thanks for letting me know about the new Blythe biography too, I have just started listening to it as an audiobook.
I am hoping it will be in my stocking. I have made very heavy hints!
You have helped a long, early train journey pass quickly, thank you
Thank you very much, Mark!
Hey, this was fascinating, not only for the scope of information you give us about Kuhlenthal but, and maybe even more so, for the way in which you shape it in your own voice (and I say that after having g read the piece, rather than playing the voiceover) so that it is so much more than a string of facts and nots on her work (which is engaging … and in The Annunciation extraordinary).
We exchanged brief notes recently about Elizabeth Jane Howard. My sense is that, at moments, she was indeed recognised and lauded as a wonderful novelist but that, over time, she may have slipped, her subject matter may have slipped, her incisiveness may have slipped into a sort of shadow realm.
What a cheering comment to receive, thank you very much. I found it hard to quash my frustration at Nash and was concerned at being rather too partial. The two paintings that survive, from her Slade days, are remarkable nad heaven knows what she could have gone on to accomplish.
I think the milieu Elizabeth Jane Howard writes about has resulted in her being less fashionable, but as you say, it doesn’t lessen her incisive writing and observation.
An interesting story that literally had my stomach churning as I read of her devotion to supporting him. A year or so into my marriage , my then partner pronounced “there’s only room for one artist in this family”. That was the beginning of the end.
I confess to feeling the same as I wrote. It was the most difficult of the pieces I have written about here, partly because I found it so hard to be impartial - it is impossible not to be furious at John Nash. Following the death of their son, he had an affair with Helen Binyon, which caused Christine great distress and there were many other details - far too many to include. But, it is a common story, as your experience shows and I know that such obstacles still remain for women artists.