David Boyd Haycock - Writer and Historian
Currently in print
Latest book - A Crisis Of Brilliance
Stanley Spencer, Paul Nash, Mark Gertler, Richard Nevinson and Dora Carrington
were five of the most exciting, influential and innovative British artists
of the twentieth century. From diverse backgrounds, they met in the years before
the Great War as students in London at the Slade School of Art, where they
formed part of what their teacher, Henry Tonks, described as the school’s
last ‘crisis of brilliance’.
Using letters, memoirs and biographies, A Crisis of Brilliance recreates
in intimate detail the formative years of these supremely gifted and committed
painters. More than just a history of art, this book is the story of individual
artists and their times – from Sufragettes to the Great War, from Futursists
and Vorticists to the Omega Workshop and the Bloomsbury Group. It is an exploration
of artistic ambition, struggle and success; and of lives linked by close friendships,
fierce rivalries and love. It is the exhilarating true story behind Pat Barker’s
best-selling novel, Life Class.
To the Bloomsbury critic Roger Fry they and their gifted companions were ‘les
jeunes’: the ‘Young British Artists’ of their day. As their
talents evolved in different directions, they became Futurists, Vorticists
and ‘Bloomsberries’, and befriended the leading writers and intellectuals
of the time, from Virginia Woolf and Rupert Brooke to D.H. Lawrence and Katherine
Mansfield. They and their Bohemian colleagues led the way in fashion with their
avant garde clothes and haircuts; they slept with their models and with prostitutes;
their tempestuous love affairs descended into obsession, murder and suicide.
And as Europe plunged into the madness of the ‘War to end Wars’,
they responded to its horror with all the passion and genius they could muster.
Reviews:
'Haycock's narrative of this entangled, war-defined group is so strong that it
often has the force of a novel, hard to put down . . . We should call for a joint
exhibition of [their] work, to complement the moving portrayal of their lives
in this engrossing and enjoyable book.' JENNY UGLOW, BOOK OF THE WEEK in The
Guardian Read the full review here
’A lucid study of the lives behind the art . . . What gives Haycock's book its
freshness is that, through skilful use of letters and memoirs left by his five
subjects, he injects it with the anxiety, ambition, self-doubt and jealousy that
possessors of youth and talent are fated to feel.' JOHN CAREY The Sunday Times
Read the full review here
‘Haycock manages the drama in this tale with such skill that his story unfolds like a well-plotted novel. … Formidably well-informed, he redraws the artistic map of the period before, during and just after the First World War. Never before have the private vicissitudes in these artists' lives been made so real, or their exuberance so vivid.’ FRANCES SPALDING, The Daily Mail
‘Haycock wears his learning lightly and has an enviably fluent and assured style of writing: you pick this book up and simply start reading. Rarely has art history seemed so agreeable … Quite possibly this shared story has never been so well told.’ The Art Newspaper
'Haycock's book is truly fascinating from every angle almost a work of art in itself. A Crisis of Brilliance will interest both connoisseurs of painting and general readers alike.' Waterstone's Books Quarterly
’A sad tale, wonderfully told… [Haycock] fades the many different narratives in and out with ease.’ Country Life
'There is something endlessly appealing about a group of artists behaving badly while simultaneously creating their best work ... Depression, doubt, love triangles and the horrors of war all conspire against their ambitions, causing their fortunes to diverge wildly ... Haycock's research provides rich context, with personal letters supplying detail to every squabble or concern.' Metro, London
‘Haycock sets the story of Nash, Spencer, Dora Carrington, Mark Gertler and Richard Nevinson against the backdrop of Britain before and during the war, and he delineates it all with real vigour. Recommended.’ The Glasgow Herald
'A vintage decade of early twentieth century British art told in vivid and entertaining detail through the adventures of five highly gifted youg painters I greatly enjoyed it.' SIR MICHAEL HOLROYD
'An extraordinary book on a well-known subject something entirely fresh and different. I read it avidly'. RONALD BLYTHE
Download: Click here to view and/or download the preface and first
chapter.
Download: Click here to view and/or download the
book cover,
Buy this book: Hardback, £20: free P&P in the UK.
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