Camp in the collection – Episode 3: Fine Art and History
Camp in the collection – Episode 3: Fine Art and History
This is the third and final episode of the series. Join Harry as we explore the Harris Fine Art and History collections.
The pieces featured in this video
Fine Art Collection
Dorette
Gerald Brockhurst was a celebrated portraitist who painted the likes of film stars Merle Oberon and Marlene Dietrich. Dorette was the nickname given by the artist to his model, Kathleen Woodward, who became Brockhurst’s second wife in 1947. Purchased by the Harris Museum from the Royal Academy in 1933 for the sum of £750 – £55,060.96 today.
This painting with its dark landscape and Dorette’s ambiguous expression creates an uneasy and melancholic atmosphere. In a series of paintings and prints, the artist attempted to form an ideal image of ‘young womanhood’ for the modern age.
The Lancashire Daily Post said at the time of Dorette:
“The Art Gallery has never been so thronged since it came. People see it and they come back to it, to look into that enigmatic face as visitors to the Louvre try to penetrate the mask of the Mona Lisa’s smile.’
‘The type Gerald Brockhurst has vividly portrayed is so unusual that it is at once arresting. The face, thrown into relief as by a spotlight, has the quality of an old master. Every detail has been reproduced with astounding fidelity.’
‘Her big, lustrous eyes follow one as if alive. The whole effect is one of amazing reality. The face stands out as if the brunette herself had thrust her head through it and was staring quizzically at the people who gaze curiously at her. The mouth, too, is wonderfully alive and individual.”
But it would be remiss of us to feature Dorette and not talk about her stunningly camp eyebrows.
An Idyll of Spring
Alfred East (1844-1913) was born in Kettering, where he began his working life in his brother’s shoe factory. Later, he was sent to Glasgow where he began to attend art classes. In 1880, he went to Paris, where he studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and the Académie Julian. East returned to England in 1884, settling in London. In 1910, he was knighted and three years later was elected a Royal Academician.
East was regarded as one of the greatest Edwardian landscape painters. His romantic, pastoral imagery frequently took inspiration from the poetry of Milton, Wordsworth and Tennyson. However, his reassuring and idyllic approach to landscape became unfashionable during the early Modern period and it is only recently that his reputation has been reassessed.
An Idyll of Spring (1897) makes the camp list because being attacked by swans while naked is pretty camp!
History Collection
Cigarette Cards
Cigarette cards are essentially trading cards issued by tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and advertise their brands. Highly collectable, they’re often adorned with actors, sports stars and animals. The Harris has a collection of more than 800 cards depicting a wide range of subjects and dating from the 1910s to 1960s. Here are some of Harry’s favourites.
Film Partners cards, Gallaher Cigarettes, 1936.
Cat cards, Player’s Cigarettes, 1936
Juvenile Fancy Ball
“Turning looks, stunting pretty, these are the kids from Preston City.” These photographs were taken at the Juvenile Fancy Dress Ball at the Public Hall on Lune St on 21 January 1897. You can see the exceptional care and attention given to every detail of these costumes. These children have dressed up as courtiers of the 17th Century, Pierrette and Pierrot.
These photographs were presented to the Mayor of Preston by the children’s parents; you can see the album in our Discover Preston gallery.
“Camp is by its very nature, political, subversive and even revolutionary.” Bruce LaBruce
You can see more of the Harris’s Fine Art and History collections in the Collections section of this website and on Art UK.