14th October 2011

ILMINSTER: The boy who bit Picasso comes to Seavington

NEROCHE Decorative Fine Arts Society enjoyed tales of a bohemian lifestyle from Antony Penrose, son of Roland Penrose, a painter who became a life-long friend of Picasso, and his official biographer.

As a child Antony once bit the famous artist and Picasso bit him back. Antony turned this into a charming children’s book “The Boy Who Bit Picasso”.

The evening, held at Seavington Village Hal,l was a fascinating insight into the world of 20th century art, and into the lifestyles of its most experimental artists.

Pablo Picasso, Man Ray and Max Ernst were just three of a string of avant-garde artists with whom Antony Penrose grew up.

He told a fascinated audience of over 100 how these talented painters and photographers came to the farm in Sussex which his parents had bought, and continued the artistic and bohemian way of life they had enjoyed in the twenties and thirties.

His father built up an extraordinary collection of pictures and sculpture at Farley Farm (which today is open to the public), many of them the work of surrealists, whom he introduced to this country.

Antony also spoke about his remarkable mother Lee Miller - an American beauty, who started as a fashion model, but then after a series of husbands and liaisons became a brilliant war photographer. After her death he found something like 60,000 negatives in the attic, which he has sorted edited and published.

The Neroche Decorative Fine Arts Society meet regularly at the hall with a range of interesting speakers and topics, the members also make grants to young locals artists to promote new talent.

PICTURE: EXTRAORDINARY LIFE - Julie Fowler, Chairman of Neroche DFAS, introduces Antony Penrose - the boy who bit Picasso