THE MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS

Manchester, Lancashire, England

6 March 1952

(page 2)

LIFE, PEOPLE—AND BOOKS

Chiaroscuro. Fragments of Autobiography. By Augustus Johnn (Cape, 30s.)

The word “Chiaroscuro,” chosen by Augustus John as the title for the first section of his autobiography, is a painter’s term for the contract between light and shade in a picture.

As a title it is a little misleading, for in these notes on life and characters by Britain’s greatest living romantic painter there is a great deal of light, but very little shade. In “Chiaroscuro” the dark places of the mind are left unexplored. Instead the great Augustus draws on a rich store of comic anecdotes. He is indiscreet, but always within the bounds of reasonable discretion.

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Here are some plums pulled almost at random from this rich cake:

On black magician Aleister Crowley: “He held me by his glittering eye, as any bore is apt to do.”

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