Jan Gordon and Steven Spurrier: "The Purest Art. Dazzle."
A copy of "Modern French Painters" (1923) in my library, once in the possession of the artist Steven Spurrier (1873-1961), has the following dedication from Jan Gordon:
"To my old pal Spurrier
in memory of the purest art we ever touched. Dazzle.
Jan Gordon"
This is a wonderfully evocative connection with the story of the dazzle-painted ships of WW1, in which both Jan Gordon and Steven Spurrier were involved. In "The London Roundabout" (1933) Jan Gordon reminisces about those times: "I was in uniform, lieutenant in the R.N.V.R., although I had never been nearer to the quarter-deck than the Royal Academy Schools, which were the headquarters of the Naval Camouflage section, under the well-known marine painter Norman Wilkinson." I wrote about Jan Gordon's involvement with the design of dazzle patterns in February 2013 and March 2014.
The book is also a resonant one for me because of the connection with my grandparents, to whom the volume is dedicated: “I would like to acknowledge the assistance of the two friends whose names appear on the dedicatory page. They patiently listened to the progress of the work chapter by chapter; if they deemed any phrase too recondite or too technical it was struck out and simplified.”
"To my old pal Spurrier
in memory of the purest art we ever touched. Dazzle.
Jan Gordon"
The book is also a resonant one for me because of the connection with my grandparents, to whom the volume is dedicated: “I would like to acknowledge the assistance of the two friends whose names appear on the dedicatory page. They patiently listened to the progress of the work chapter by chapter; if they deemed any phrase too recondite or too technical it was struck out and simplified.”
Dedication in "Modern French Painters" (1923)
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