DH Lawrence
in Taos New Mexico
and the Elgin Marbles
A tale of looting, banned books, "indecent" paintings
and a plan to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece.
Pat Keenan takes us from the Acropolis in Athens,
to police raids in London and to an encounter with Saki Karayas
at the La Fonda Hotel in Taos, New Mexico.
A statue of the headless Greek river-god Ilissos has recently been loaned to the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg by the British Museum in London, and it immediately sparked off a furious diplomatic response from Greece. The Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras described the decision to loan the sculpture as "a provocation to the Greek people." The statue in question is from the controversial Elgin Marbles, a collection of classical Greek sculptures originally part of the Acropolis in Athens. The British say they were 'acquired.' The Greeks say they were 'looted'
The 7th Earl of Elgin Thomas Bruce in 1801, while serving as the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in Athens, removed the marbles from the Acropolis and gifted them to the British Museum. He claimed to have obtained permission from the Ottomans but the permission document somehow went missing - conveniently, say the Greeks.
Bear with me while I deviate.
"Frankly Disgusting and Indecent"
In June 1929 police raided the Warren Gallery in London and confiscated thirteen "indecent" paintings. They were taken to the Marlborough Street Police Station, to await their fate at the descretion the courts. The Observer newspaper at the time called them "frankly disgusting", the Daily Express described the exhibition as "ugly,""repellent,""frankly indecent" and warned that "the subjects of some of them will compel most spectators to recoil in horror." One of the paintings they denounced showed a "hideous bearded man holding a fair-haired woman in his lascivious grip."
The artist was none other than DH Lawrence better known as a writer and author of Lady Chatterley's Lover (itself banned in Britain a year earlier - Ireland, of course, followed suit in 1932)
The seized paintings, if found indecent, would, most likely be disposed by fire. Instead after appeals from Lawrence they were returned to him on condition that he would take them out of the country and promise that they never be shown in England again. At the time he was residing, mostly for for health reasons, in dry desert air of Taos, New Mexico in the United States
Forbidden Art, Taos, New Mexico
In 1994 I found myself in Taos New Mexico outside the Hotel La Fonda where nine of the deported paintings ended up. The hotel, mindful of erotic content, charged $1 for a private viewing of the "D. H. Lawrence Forbidden Art" collection in Saki Karayas, the hotel owner's extremely cluttered office. Saki, born in New York of Greek immigrants, warmly welcomed me in and although it was sometime in the afternoon he was still in his dressing gown. I was told later that he never ever got up before noon.
He told me of his passion for Lawrence as painter and for his literary works he showed me several first editions
The office was obviously the habitat of a very amusing and eccentric man, his shoe collection, rivaling that of Imelda Marcos, lined in a continuous row all around the office skirting boards. The walls were totally covered, a clutter of the forbidden art and a wide-ranging assortment of other paintings, any space left was filled by framed photos and mementoes.
"Return the Elgin Marbles to Athens"
Saki would not say what he paid for the paintings but he knew what he wanted for their return. He also knew that the moral climate had changed in Britain, that the DH Lawrence Centre at Nottingham University had urged that the National Heritage fund be used to bring them back to Nottingham. They had £4m. in mind, Saki suggested to me a figure of £7m. and… with a big sideways grin: "… the return of the Elgin Marbles to Athens".
I'm not all that sure if he ever met Lawrence, I stupidly forgot to ask. Saki certainly was well acquainted with "the Lawrence women' as he put it. In fact I gathered that Saki had acquired a reputation around Taos circles as quiet the ladies man earning him the title "Don Juan of Taos"
His circle of ladies included Lawrence's wife, Frieda von Richtofen, a cousin of the Red Baron, the famous WW1 German flying fighter ace; Mabel Dodge Luhan, a wealthy American patron of the Taos art colony; Lady Dorothy Brett, a painter with an aristocratic British pedigrees who moved to Taos at the invitation of Lawrence; Millicent Rogers, art collector and heiress to Standard Oil Company fortune and the important artist, Georgia O'Keefe, recognized as the Mother of American Modernism who was a immence influence on Lawrence as painter.
Frieda Lawrence died in 1956 and her estate, which included the Lawrence paintings, passed on to her husband Angelino Ravagli. A few months later Angelino sold them to Saki. Saki died in 1996, just two years after our meeting. Since he never married, he left his hotel and the paintings to his good friend, George Sahd.
In 1994 I stayed at Hacienda del Sol a luxury Bed and Breakfast with breathtaking views of Taos Mountain and it is still there today just a mile north of the Taos Historic Plaza and the indecent paintings of DH Lawrence. Oh, and I do remember that my beautiful adobe styled room included access to relax at night in the outdoor Hot Tub under the stars, surrounded by snow, yes snow, and the Taos Mountains.
http://www.taoshaciendadelsol.com/
in Taos New Mexico
and the Elgin Marbles
A tale of looting, banned books, "indecent" paintings
and a plan to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece.
Pat Keenan takes us from the Acropolis in Athens,
to police raids in London and to an encounter with Saki Karayas
at the La Fonda Hotel in Taos, New Mexico.
 |
| Saki Karayas: "…return of the Elgin Marbles to Athens" Watercolour by Pat Keenan |
 |
| The 7th Earl of Elgin |
The 7th Earl of Elgin Thomas Bruce in 1801, while serving as the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in Athens, removed the marbles from the Acropolis and gifted them to the British Museum. He claimed to have obtained permission from the Ottomans but the permission document somehow went missing - conveniently, say the Greeks.
Bear with me while I deviate.
"Frankly Disgusting and Indecent"
In June 1929 police raided the Warren Gallery in London and confiscated thirteen "indecent" paintings. They were taken to the Marlborough Street Police Station, to await their fate at the descretion the courts. The Observer newspaper at the time called them "frankly disgusting", the Daily Express described the exhibition as "ugly,""repellent,""frankly indecent" and warned that "the subjects of some of them will compel most spectators to recoil in horror." One of the paintings they denounced showed a "hideous bearded man holding a fair-haired woman in his lascivious grip."
 |
| Saki's office at the La Fonda Hotel Taos Photo Pat Keenan |
The artist was none other than DH Lawrence better known as a writer and author of Lady Chatterley's Lover (itself banned in Britain a year earlier - Ireland, of course, followed suit in 1932)
The seized paintings, if found indecent, would, most likely be disposed by fire. Instead after appeals from Lawrence they were returned to him on condition that he would take them out of the country and promise that they never be shown in England again. At the time he was residing, mostly for for health reasons, in dry desert air of Taos, New Mexico in the United States
 |
| Part of the Forbidden Art Collection Photo Pat Keenan |
Forbidden Art, Taos, New Mexico
In 1994 I found myself in Taos New Mexico outside the Hotel La Fonda where nine of the deported paintings ended up. The hotel, mindful of erotic content, charged $1 for a private viewing of the "D. H. Lawrence Forbidden Art" collection in Saki Karayas, the hotel owner's extremely cluttered office. Saki, born in New York of Greek immigrants, warmly welcomed me in and although it was sometime in the afternoon he was still in his dressing gown. I was told later that he never ever got up before noon.
 |
| Part of the Forbidden Art Collection Photo Pat Keenan |
The office was obviously the habitat of a very amusing and eccentric man, his shoe collection, rivaling that of Imelda Marcos, lined in a continuous row all around the office skirting boards. The walls were totally covered, a clutter of the forbidden art and a wide-ranging assortment of other paintings, any space left was filled by framed photos and mementoes.
 |
| www.lafondataos.com/hotelshistory.html |
Saki would not say what he paid for the paintings but he knew what he wanted for their return. He also knew that the moral climate had changed in Britain, that the DH Lawrence Centre at Nottingham University had urged that the National Heritage fund be used to bring them back to Nottingham. They had £4m. in mind, Saki suggested to me a figure of £7m. and… with a big sideways grin: "… the return of the Elgin Marbles to Athens".
I'm not all that sure if he ever met Lawrence, I stupidly forgot to ask. Saki certainly was well acquainted with "the Lawrence women' as he put it. In fact I gathered that Saki had acquired a reputation around Taos circles as quiet the ladies man earning him the title "Don Juan of Taos"
His circle of ladies included Lawrence's wife, Frieda von Richtofen, a cousin of the Red Baron, the famous WW1 German flying fighter ace; Mabel Dodge Luhan, a wealthy American patron of the Taos art colony; Lady Dorothy Brett, a painter with an aristocratic British pedigrees who moved to Taos at the invitation of Lawrence; Millicent Rogers, art collector and heiress to Standard Oil Company fortune and the important artist, Georgia O'Keefe, recognized as the Mother of American Modernism who was a immence influence on Lawrence as painter.
Frieda Lawrence died in 1956 and her estate, which included the Lawrence paintings, passed on to her husband Angelino Ravagli. A few months later Angelino sold them to Saki. Saki died in 1996, just two years after our meeting. Since he never married, he left his hotel and the paintings to his good friend, George Sahd.
 |
| Hacienda del Sol: surrounded by snow in 1994 Photo Pat Keenan |
 |
| Hacienda del Sol: snug and warm in 1994 Photo Pat Keenan |
http://www.taoshaciendadelsol.com/
Getting There
There are no direct flights from Ireland to New Mexico but Aer Lingus, British Airways, United Airlines and American Airlines have flights to hubs in the USA and onward connections to Albuquergue, New Mexico.
Information:
Taos: www.taos.org/
New Mexico: www.newmexico.org/
There are no direct flights from Ireland to New Mexico but Aer Lingus, British Airways, United Airlines and American Airlines have flights to hubs in the USA and onward connections to Albuquergue, New Mexico.
Information:
Taos: www.taos.org/
New Mexico: www.newmexico.org/