Word: sphinx
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...walls of the Royal Academy's galleries were 291 of his works in a special one-man exhibition, the fourth in the academy's history to be given a living artist. Included was a large (60 in. by 50 in.) nude, The Sphinx, which the Royal Academy had banned for 27 years as too shocking...
...long banned Sphinx, now owned by Mrs. Alfred G. Kay of Palm Beach, Fla., was visibly stronger in flesh tones than mystery (see cut). Recalled Sir Gerald: "I put a devil of a lot of hard work into that picture. It took me four years, on and off, to paint. The model who posed for it would not have been everyone's cup of tea. She had a stocky figure, long-limbed and healthy looking, but no grace or elegance. It was an arduous pose, and she behaved like an archangel though she ached like the devil afterwards...
...When The Sphinx was finished, Sir Gerald showed it to Sir William Llewellyn, then Royal Academy president, heard him say, "By Jove, my dear chap, it's wonderful. You really must send it in." Comments Sir Gerald wryly: "Well, I sent it in, but it jolly soon came back." Reason was the academy's unwritten law prohibiting any work that might cause offense or annoyance to the viewer's religious or moral scruples. The academy's particular concern was that Queen Mary, peering at The Sphinx strait-lacedly, might deem it beyond the pale of propriety...
Twenty-seven years later the still quite proper Royal Academy had no objection at all to The Sphinx. What did Sir Gerald think of her now? Said he: "Oh, what a whopping big picture. It's too large. Terribly difficult...
...funny, but would be a great deal funnier if Newby had made the smile on the face of his souvenir sphinx a little more inscrutable. Missing is the magic touch of the old master, the young Evelyn Waugh, whose clown's bladder was deadly as a blackjack. Newby's hurts no one, not even the Egyptians...