Northie: I looked up a reproduction of the Sargent portrait of Sir George Lewis, which is in a private collection. It is not in the catalogue and I would have remembered seeing it.

As you may know, Sargent also portrayed Lady Lewis, who kept a musical and artistic salon.

Sir George, celebrated in legal circles, Society and the Jewish community, was involved (I discovered) in some of the most famous legal cases of the era, including the Charles Bravo murder (his wife poisoned him) and the Tranby Croft case (a case of cheating at baccarat - the Prince of Wales was called to the stand as a witness)

For JOHN SINGER SARGENT fans,

Not sure if I mentioned this before, but I would recommend again David McCullough's THE GREATER JOURNEY, Americans in Paris 1830-1900 for an excellent portrayal of Sargent and his contemporaries in the heady days of their youth.

no, no Lewis's I'm afraid, Northie. The main commemorative brochure/book is very lavish and expensive, but there was a £10 version, which I rather wish I'd bought, but I was feeling a little mean at the time. So I had to look it up in the free leaflet they gave us, and sadly Sir George was absent. I confess that I had never heard of him but thanks to Tedgale I'm pleased to say that I've been able to increase my knowledge of lawyers of the C19 and early C20.

of course I had heard of some of those cases [particularly the one where the Prince was called as a witness which surely did not amuse his mama] but the one with which I'm most familiar is the one which was used by Terrence Rattigan for his play.

Thanks, Lateday - I hadn't heard of that book either - I'll have to see if the library has it.

Hi ANNHIG,

Which play of Rattigan were you referring to "... but the one with which I'm most familiar is the one which was used by Terrence Rattigan for his play."?

Recently I read a bio of the American playwright Tennessee Williams who had great success in the 30s and then later felt left in the dust by British dramatists like Rattigan. So I watched the original version of the latter's THE BROWNING VERSION. Thought it was excellent.

I think you will enjoy THE GREATER JOURNEY - not just about the American experience but the whole artistic/cultural flowering of mid to late nineteenth century Paris. A chapter which is very well done concerns the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and the Commune which I never understood before. That period wasn't pretty, but Parisians rose to occasion, built the Eiffel Tower, and had those wonderful world fairs towards the end of the era.

Lateday - it's called "The Winslow Boy" and along with the Browning Version it is probably the most popular of his plays, though he isn't performed very often nowadays. oddly, I would say that Tennessee Williams is much more popular - producers like all that angst and emotion, whereas Rattigan is very controlled, if not down right repressed.

Thanks, ANNHIG, I will check out THE WINSLOW BOY.

thanks annhig and tedgale, yes I had forgotten that Sargent painted at least 3 portraits of lady Lewis. Burne- Jones painted the children and Whistler sketched the whole family at their out of town residence.
I have lots of information on the family. My husband s first name is Lewis named after the family . His mother was a Lewis.Lady lewis ran a marvellous salon with amazing guests eg Oscar Wilde and all those artists.
Sir George's father James Graham lewis was supposed to be the Mr Jaggers in Charles Dickens book.

northie - few of Sergeant's "society" portraits are in the exhibition - they are mostly ones of his friends and notables of the age such as Ellen Terry, WB Yeats etc .

Whether this was deliberate or because the society ones are in private collections so are more difficult to get hold of, it doesn't say.

BTW, there are a number of events connected with the show which you can take part in - talks, concerts, etc. - details on the website. i was sorry to have missed an all-day singing workshop on music of the age, for example.

Thanks annhig. I'll look at supplementary events - looking forward to it. Sergeant was definitely a friend of
Lady Lewis - there are letters between them. The George Lewis portrait was offered for sale at £30,000-£40,000 in 1996 at Southebys but not sold.
We also have tickets for the Chelsea flower show - a once in a lifetime experience.

Gosh, Northie, you are certainly going for it.

The last time we went to Chelsea it was packed, so be prepared for crowds. if you hit the weather right [warm but not too hot, hopefully with a bit of a breeze] it can be lovely. I suggest making for what you want to see most first, and then do everything else - it's a big site and very tiring.

BTW I wasn't in any way suggesting that Sergeant wasn't a friend of the Lewis's but the theme of the exhibition seemed to be less his "society" links, more his links with and admiration for other artists, like Rodin and Monet. I'm sure you'll love it anyway.

Chelsea will be slammed - do you have full day tickets or late admission? If full day -- I'd get there early (there will be long queues to get in) and stay as long as you can manage but then leave and maybe eat a late lunch somewhere near Sloan Square - then return to the show say around 5:30 or 6 PM. It does thin out just a bit after about 6:30 - but they also run out of food.

TEd:; Ok I've now caught up with the end of your trip. Thanks so much. You spend a lot of time keeping us all apprised of what your travel experiences are, and your knowledge helps me to learn more than usual from your reports!

lovely report on one of my favourite cities, thx.

janisj we have late entry . There's no way I could stay and walk around all day. I was surprised at the cost .

northie - that's probably a good plan. What are you going to do all day beforehand though to make sure that you're not knackered before you get there????

If anyone is interested in The Winslow Boy, there are at least 2 filmed versions. The first, made in England in the late 1940s, was directed by Anthony Asquith (the Prime Minister's son) and stars Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Robert Donat and Margaret Leighton -- brilliant casting all around.

The second, released in 1999, is an adaptation written and directed by David Mamet, of all people! The late Nigel Hawthorne plays the father, the suave Jeremy Northam plays the lawyer and Mamet's wife, Rebecca Pidgeon, is interestingly cast as the daughter of the house.

Both versions merit attention but I think the newer one would be more appealing to modern viewers.

I love the old version - it has the same period feel as the films of the Importance of being Earnest, and the Four Feathers, both of the same era.

Hi again TEDGALE,

" If anyone is interested in The Winslow Boy, there are at least 2 filmed versions." Thank you for the info.

ANNHIG,

"I love the old version - it has the same period feel as the films ..." I hear you. I did watch the older version of THE BROWNING VERSION which I thought was excellent. Then I watched the newer version which was also good but had been bumped up to adult ratings by the inclusion of a few gratuitous sex scenes. Glad I check it out before I recommended it to my grandson who is entering prep school in the fall.

That whole "thing" about prep school (what you folks call "public school") is very well delineated in both films.

Not sure what we will do before Chelsea flower show . Probably take our London friend to lunch . Our apartment is in Soho so we have plenty of relaxing places to go to.

Oops annhig!