George Orwell wrote at least thirteen letters to Siegfried Charoux which appear to be unknown to Orwell scholars. Twelve of these were handwritten from beds in three different hospitals, and one typed, at Orwell’s home on the Isle of Jura.
On the 19th November 1948, Orwell wrote to his friend, the editor of The Observer, David Astor, thanking him for his advice:
“It’s very kind of Charoux to help about restoring the picture. When I can get round to doing so I’ll make a crate and send it to him direct. I never can remember his address but I expect I have a letter of his somewhere.”
Peter Davison, the editor of The Complete Works of George Orwell, included a footnote explaining that Charoux was “a picture-framer and restorer” and that “his address is given in Orwell’s address book as 65 Holland Park Road, London, W. 14”. There are only two other very minor references to Charoux in these Complete Works.
One, in another letter to Astor, where Orwell says:
Dear David,
I wonder how you are getting on. I was slightly dismayed to hear from Charoux that you were getting along “as well as can be expected.” I had thought the operation you were having was something very minor. Let me know how you are when you get a chance to write.
And another, in a letter Orwell wrote to Richard Rees, himself a painter:
“I’ve just had back that picture that went to be restored. He’s made a beautiful job of it, & it is almost like a new picture. Apparently they can lift a picture right off & stick it onto a new piece of canvas. I have another old picture which I thought was past praying for, as the canvas is sort of moth eaten, but perhaps this chap could do something with it. He also put the picture in a quite nice new frame, & only charged 12 guineas for the whole job.”
Davison includes brief footnotes for each of these: “Charoux was a picture-framer and restorer recommended to Orwell by Astor to repair one of Orwell’s pictures damaged in the move to Jura” and “Rees, as a painter, might be expected to be particularly interested in what Charoux had been able to do”.
As it turns out, Siegfried Charoux, as you will see from Orwell’s letters, was not really a ‘picture restorer’ but had a friend who was one!
Charoux was a sculptor!
Siegfried Joseph Charoux (1896-1967)
Born Charous Buchta, Charoux has a detailed ODNB entry but the broad brushstrokes of his life until 1950 are as follows.
Born in Vienna, he resented having to serve in the Austrian army, fighting “Russian peasants” for the Hapsburg monarchy during World War I.* He was wounded twice and invalided out in 1917. A successful operation restored his paralysed right arm and saved his future as a sculptor. He began working for an optical firm, where he affixed lenses to telescopes with wax. This experience was the first step in an artistic journey to becoming a sculptor of repute and a member of the Royal Academy of Arts.
Left-leaning, but no ideologue, Charoux was a successful political cartoonist during the 1920s, employing the pseudonym Chat Roux. The Nazis destroyed a bronze statue, unveiled in 1935, that he had been commissioned to create after winning an international competition. Unconventional art during this period was fated to be melted down for armaments and the artist was in very real personal danger. Charoux and his wife, Margarethe, were always adamant that they did not flee to England in this same year but had chosen, “self exile”.
I cheered aloud on learning that Charoux returned to Austria, to re-cast the statue, after the Second World War concluded.
Charoux had a considerable artistic career which we cannot go into here but he was naturalised as a British subject in 1946, after a decade of living in the country, the same year he exhibited a bronze bust of Sir Stafford Cripps at the Royal Academy’s summer exhibition.
The important information for us, is that David Astor was Charoux’s patron and friend. He supported him in many ways – financially, socially and artistically – and they shared a liberal outlook. Astor was instrumental in having Charoux released from his internment as an enemy alien during the war and supported his application to become a British citizen. Astor rented and then purchased homes for Charoux and his wife which became a haven for a circle of close friends.*
The Letters
The first six letters to Charoux are written from Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, where Orwell was being treated for tuberculosis. He had been admitted in December 1947 and was a patient until the end of July 1948. These letters were written in appreciation for the gifts of food made by Charoux and include insights into Orwell’s attitudes towards his medical condition, streptomycin, art, smoking and ill-health. His son, Richard Blair, is a regular topic of conversation and Orwell’s ever-present interest in nature is a feature, even though his observations are made via a hospital window.
13.1.48
A brief note where Orwell thanks Charoux for the food he has sent, especially the delicious cakes. He mentions that his appetite is returning. Orwell relays the good news that an X-ray has revealed that “one bit of his lungs is beginning to mend” and that there is a “new treatment” putting the “lung out of action for a long time to give it a chance to heal”. Orwell mentions “David and Karl” and that he has not worked on his book (Nineteen Eighty-Four) in three months.
30.1.48
Often illegible, this letter opens with niceties about the jam Charoux has sent, noting he has not had “Oxford marmalade” since 1939. He provides some details about his medical condition saying, “I think I am getting better”. He reports that X-rays continue to show “distinct improvement”. His attitude towards tobacco is enunciated very clearly: “If I am ill I don’t enjoy smoking’ as it does not have the ‘proper taste”. He asks Charoux to remember him to his wife.
2.3.48
Charoux has sent more food and Orwell thanks him for the cakes which he shared with “David and Karl”. He reports that he has been taking streptomycin for about ten days: “I think it is doing me good”. He says he feels better and is doing a “little light work – ie book reviews”.
21.4.48
More food has arrived for Orwell who is concerned that Charoux really cannot spare it. He reports that he has generally been “a lot better” but over the last fortnight has suffered from the “secondary effects of streptomycin”. He is hoping to “get out of hospital” for the summer believing that only returning for “periodical treatment” is a distinct possiblity. He is depressed by his invalid status but hopes to be allowed outside “in a chair” shortly He has not noticed the seasonal arrival of the swallows yet and makes some other commentary about nature and farming.
12.5.48
Thanks Charoux for the tin of marmalade and other food. He reports “six ‘negative’ tests” and hopes to check out of hospital by August (it is now mid-May). Orwell’s chief worry is the length of time he has spent away from Richard. He is “afraid” that his son may forget him and he is looking forward to seeing him in the grounds of the hospital in the near future (noting children are not permitted inside). Orwell tells Charoux that he feels well enough to “get back into serious work again” soon. He has not “heard from David for some time” (NOTE Astor is formally editing The Observer from 1948) and wonders if he is out of the country. Much reflection on the progress of his garden at Barnhill. The usual sign-off about Mrs Charoux.
10.6.48
More appreciation expressed for yet another parcel of food and the Oxford marmalade. Getting out of the hospital room for two hours a day is making Orwell feel much better. The doctors have stopped (illegible) but something about his treatment/lungs. He has been told it will not be necessary to be an outpatient on departure (illegible) something about Edinburgh. Mentions Avril is “going to bring my little boy to see me at the end of the month”. The writing is quite illegible in parts (I need to spend more time transcribing it) but mentions Richard has already had measles and whooping cough and that Orwell has concerns about scarlet fever. It appears these diseases had only a slight impact on Richard and it was difficult to keep him in bed. The weather on Jura is good he has been told and on a nearby ward a patient has gotten hold of bagpipes which feels is a little odd considering everyone has tuberculosis.
26.11.48
Typed letter to Charoux from Barnhill
The next four letters are written from Cranham Lodge. After departing Hairmyres in July 1948, Orwell made a herculean effort to complete Nineteen Eighty-Four. He left Jura in early January 1949 and had been admitted to Cranham Sanatorium in the Cotswolds. His remaining months were spent here, and, as we will see, at University College Hospital, London.
10.6.49
A brief letter enquiring if the portrait he wanted restored ever arrived.
12.8.1949
Orwell explains that he now knows the portrait was sent to the wrong address. He describes the painting as “a small canvas, 18” by 15”, painted about 1800 representing a young girl”. There is a “bad slit in the canvas” and he suspects the may be “weak spots” but he “supposes it is repairable”. Orwell explains it “has sentimental value and is a nice picture”. He describes himself as “still rather so-so but better on the whole”. Richard has been staying here during the summer but will return “to Jura shortly to attend the village school”. Usual sign-off about remembering him to Mrs Charoux.
24.8.1949
Thanks Charoux for his letter and reassures him the twelve pounds (something/illegible) is not too much for restoring the painting acknowledging how trying a job it would be for the restorer. Orwell says his “health has ups & downs” and that he will be in a “London hospital shortly” but no date has been set.
No Date 1949
A longer letter thanking Charoux for sending “the beautiful water colour of Tarbet” and “the cakes”. He didn’t know that Charoux “painted in water-colour” acknowledging “it is terribly tricky stuff”. He had “heard that you had been at Tarbet, but didn’t get as far as Barnhill”. Orwell mentions his health saying that the specialist thinks he is “not doing so bad” and will “probably recover” but “will have to lay still and not work, possibly for as long as a year”. He says this “is worthwhile if it means he can work again later”. Richard is staying near him noting “he is now just 5 and go to the kindergarten school in the mornings”. It appears that David Astor has suggested Charoux does a bust of Orwell who enquires about the expense of bronze. Usual sign-off.
16.9.1949 (Room 65, Private Wing University College Hospital)
Thanks Charoux for telling him that the picture has been restored successfully. He wants to hang it in his new hospital room. He is only allowed one visitor for twenty minutes a day and suggests Charoux phones him rather than making the “expedition” to visit.
17.9.1949 (Room 65, Private Wing University College Hospital)
Charoux has sent cakes and bananas. It is also clear that restored painting has arrived and is “almost like new”. Orwell mentions he has other paintings in need of restoration including a “moth-eaten” canvas. The final letter in this sequence concludes with Orwell’s news that he is going to wed Sonia Brownell:
“Did I tell you that I am going to get married again – though I don’t quite know when, my health being what it is.”
“Blair. Portrait of a Girl” – Orwell’s Painting?
So, what exactly was this “small canvas, about 16″ by 20” painted around 1790 that had sentimental value for Orwell? He also describes it as “a small canvas, 18” by 15”, painted about 1800 representing a young girl”. It is probably worth your while to read this post, with related musings about painting and Orwell’s ancestors, before continuing on.
There is compelling evidence the painting Orwell had restored was by Thomas Beach (1738-1806) who was a favourite pupil of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792). Beach was a Dorset portrait painter often commissioned to paint the extended Blair family in the latter part of the 18th century. Beach’s great-great-grand niece published a catalogue of his work in 1934 listing nine Blair portraits in the “Michel Collection” (there is a lengthy story about how the Michel, Blair and Fane families were interconnected here).
“Blair. Portrait of a Girl” is described as 19 inch by 15 inch and oval. This is very much the dimensions Orwell described to Charoux and both the subject and time period are correct.
Listed in this same catalogue is the painting of Henry Charles Blair (1775-1794) and, Orwell’s great-grandfather, Charles Blair (1776-1854) who were the sons of Lady Mary Blair née Fane and the elder Charles Blair. Beach was an assured figure painter and natural colourist. He was noted for his ability to capture a good likeness.
One imagines the portrait Orwell had restored was a very decent one. I have not really tried to locate the painting – but will.
In Conclusion
*One of the great pleasures of researching Orwell is that so many people are willing to assist generously and share their knowledge and work. Dr. Melanie Veasey has been particularly kind and I highly recommend reading her excellent book, Charoux’s Sculptures.
One thing I gleaned from Dr. Veasey was that the identities of those who modelled for “The Islanders” (1951), Charoux’s iconic work exhibited at the Festival of Britain, is unknown. However, “anecdotal comments” attribute the inspiration for the work to Orwell and his family (p.83)!
Melanie also told me that one of Charoux’s best sculptures, Friends, is currently being exhibited in the Sackler Gallery at the Royal Academy in Piccadilly:
“Take the lift to the Library level and the galley is the corridor in front of you when the lift doors open. The sculpture is towards the end of the corridor.”
I followed her advice, snapped a few photos, and spent some pleasantly reflective moments in the gallery thinking on what I now know about Astor, Orwell and Charoux!
FURTHER READING
Beach, Elsie S., Thomas Beach, a Dorset Portrait Painter : favourite pupil of Sir Joshua Reynolds, London: John Bale, Sons & Danielsson, 1934
Graves, R. E., and Peter Tomory, “Beach, Thomas (bap. 1737, d. 1806), portrait painter”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2009
Gross, Hans Kurt, “Charoux, Siegfried Joseph (1896–1967), sculptor”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 23 Sep. 2004. Accessed 20th October 2024
Lewis, Jeremy, David Astor, Random Books: Kindle Edition, 2017
Orwell, George, It Is What I Think: 1947–1948, The Complete Works of George Orwell, Vol. 19, Davison, Peter (ed.) London: Secker & Warburg, 1998
Orwell, George, Our Job is to Make Life Worth Living: 1949-1950, The Complete Works of George Orwell, Vol. 20, Davison, Peter (ed.) London: Secker & Warburg, 1998
Orwell, George, A Life in Letters, Davison, Peter (ed.), London: Liveright, 2013
Veasey, Melanie, Charoux’s Sculptures, Langenzersdorf Museum, 2024
Veasey, Melanie, “‘An insistence on freedom’: Siegfried Charoux’s Civilisation Cyclus“, Sculpture Journal, Volume 28, Number 1, 2019
