The Sitwells and the Arts of the 1920s and 1930s (Literary Modernism Series) - Softcover

Bradford, Sarah; Clerk, Honor; Fryer, Jonathan; Gibson, Robin; Pearson, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0292777116 ISBN 13: 9780292777118

Publisher: University of Texas Press, 1996

Synopsis

Edith, Osbert, and Sacheverell Sitwell rarely missed an opportunity to promote themselves or denounce their sworn enemy, the Philistine.
The Sitwells were natural subjects, and targets, for the media. Unconventional, aristocratic, and physically imposing, they were bold, talented, and provocative. This book celebrates their lives and their artistic crusade, which brought them into contact and conflict with many of the leading figures of the arts in the early part of this century. Gertrude Stein, T.S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas, and Evelyn Waugh were among their friends; their favorite enemies included Wyndham Lewis, Noel Coward, and D.H. Lawrence.
The book begins with their childhood at Renishaw, the ancestral home in Derbyshire, England, and with their ill-matched parents, the eccentric Sir George and the extravagant Lady Ida. It follows them to London, to the fashionable circles of Bloomsbury and the elegant drawing rooms of celebrated society hostesses; and to Paris, to the studios Modigliani and Picasso. It discusses their involvement with the Russian ballet, their early literary ventures, and their patronage of the young composer William Walton, which resulted in Facade, their most famous collaboration.
In 1925, Sacheverell Sitwell married the beautiful and spirited Georgia Doble, which precipitated the break-up of the trio. The book's final chapters are devoted to the individual lives of Edith, Osbert, and Sacheverell; their friendships, their literary successes and failures, their fame, and their continuing battles.

About this title

Review

Edith, Osbert, and Sacheverell Sitwell were English eccentrics of the 1920s and 1930s with wildly bohemian lifestyles, archly aristocratic mannerisms, and highly inflated artistic pretensions. Edith's poetry was the best known, but most of their works are now out of print. Their most outstanding creations, however, were themselves. Fashionably outrageous dress was one of their affectations, and image became a major preoccupation. Appropriately then, their lives are recorded here in a pictorial biography. In addition to the languidly posed Sitwells, there are photos of friends such as Evelyn Waugh and Cecil Beaton. The accompanying text is enlivened by accounts of their many petty feuds with those who failed to take them seriously, including Aldous Huxley and D. H. Lawrence.

Review

The appearance of this volume in paper assures that new audiences will absorb this blend of biographical examination and art history. The Sitwells were poets and patrons of the arts: this examines their lives, artistic crusade, and contact with influential art leaders. -- Midwest Book Review

Their eccentric appearance, outrageous opinions and prominence in fashionable bohemian circles made them the Andy Warhols of their day. -- The New York Times Book Review, Evelyn Toynton

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0292777116
• ISBN 13: 9780292777118
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240