Notre Dame de Paris: The North Side Supply
Description
Signed and dated on the front and signed and titled verso, original charcoal study of the Notre Dame in Paris.
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In 1987, the South Bank Board under the direction of Michael Harrison commissioned Dennis Creffield to draw all 26 of England’s medieval cathedrals.
He set out on Valentine’s Day morning, and for six months travelled some 10,000 miles around the country in his campervan.
He would set up his easel in front of his subjects from 4am in the morning (to avoid the tourists) and work until dusk.
‘His cathedrals tremble like lovers, his lovers are as mysterious in their nakedness as cathedrals’ — Howard Jacobson
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After Creffield’s six-month marathon, the works themselves were sent on a tour of England, with the South Bank’s exhibition beginning in the cathedral town of Winchester in 1988 and ending at Camden Arts Centre in 1990. The display was hugely successful, bringing Creffield firmly into the public eye. Henri Cartier-Bresson was so taken with them that he invited the artist to meet him in Paris. This success brought in its wake further architectural commissions, from the cathedrals of France to a request from the National Trust to draw the atomic facilities at Orford Ness.
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‘Creffield is one of England’s closely guarded secrets and it’s about time someone blew his cover…’ — R.B. Kitaj
Additional Information
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