![Nina Hamnett](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Nina_Hamnett.jpg)
Nina Hamnett (14 February 1890 – 16 December 1956) was a Welsh artist and writer, and an expert on sailors'
chanteys, who became known as the Queen of Bohemia.
Early life
Hamnett was born in Shirley House, Picton Road in the small coastal town of
Tenby
Tenby ( cy, Dinbych-y-pysgod, lit=fortlet of the fish) is both a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay, and a local government community.
Notable features include of sandy beaches and the Pembroke ...
,
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a county in the south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The county is home to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The Park oc ...
, Wales. Her father George Hamnett was an army officer, born in Madras (now
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
), India. Her mother Mary was born in
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland.
The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...
. Nina was sent to a private boarding school at
Westgate-on-Sea before moving on aged 12, to the
Royal School for Daughters of Officers of the Army in
Bath, Somerset
Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...
from 1902 to 1905. Her father was dishonourably discharged from the army and took work as a taxi driver. Her education had to be funded by her aunts and by a loan against a future bequest.
From 1906 to 1907 she studied at the
Pelham Art School and then at the
London School of Art until 1910. In 1914 she went to
Montparnasse
Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. Montparnasse has bee ...
, Paris to study at
Marie Vassilieff
Mariya Ivanovna Vassiliéva (Russian: Мария Ивановна Васильева), (12 February 1884 – 14 May 1957), better known as Marie Vassilieff, was a Russian-born painter active in Paris.
She moved to Paris at the age of twenty- ...
's Academy.
While studying in London she met and posed for
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (né Gaudier; 4 October 1891 – 5 June 1915) was a French artist and sculptor who developed a rough-hewn, primitive style of direct carving.
Biography
Henri Gaudier was born in Saint-Jean-de-Braye near Orléans. In 1910, ...
who sculpted a series of nude bronzes. During this period she became friendly with
Olivia Shakespear
Olivia Shakespear (; 17 March 1863 – 3 October 1938) was a British novelist, playwright, and patron of the arts. She wrote six books that are described as "marriage problem" novels. Her works sold poorly, sometimes only a few hundred cop ...
and
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...
. She went on to have a love affair with Brzeska, and later with
Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (, ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterized by a surreal elongation of faces, necks, and ...
and
Roger Fry.
On her first night in the
Bohemian
Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to:
*Anything of or relating to Bohemia
Beer
* National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst
* Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors
Culture and arts
* Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
community she went to the café ''La Rotonde'' where the man at the next table introduced himself as "Modigliani, painter and Jew". In addition to making close friends with Modigliani,
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
,
Serge Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, p ...
, and
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the s ...
, she stayed for a while at
La Ruche, where many of the leading members of the avant-garde lived at the time. In Montparnasse in 1914 she also met her future husband, the Norwegian artist
Edgar de Bergen, who later changed his name to Roald Kristian to sound less German. She would remain married for forty years but her relationship with her husband lasted only three years.
In 1916 her husband was deported as an unregistered alien.
Her work was well regarded by
Walter Sickert
Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...
who endeavoured to advise her on her painting but she lacked his dedication and she revelled in not taking advice. Sickert used her as a model and also painted her with her husband in 1915–16 in ''The Little Tea Party: Nina Hamnett and Roald Kristian''.
Flamboyant lifestyle
![The Little Tea Party Nina Hamnett and Roald Kristian 1915 16](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/The_Little_Tea_Party_Nina_Hamnett_and_Roald_Kristian_1915_16.jpg)
Flamboyantly unconventional, and openly
bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...
, Hamnett once danced nude on a Montparnasse café table just for the "hell of it". She drank heavily, was sexually promiscuous, and kept numerous lovers and close associations within the artistic community. Very quickly, she became a well-known bohemian personality throughout Paris and modelled for many artists. Her reputation soon reached back to London, where for a time, she went to work making or decorating fabrics, clothes, murals, furniture, and rugs at the
Omega Workshops
The Omega Workshops Ltd. was a design enterprise founded by members of the Bloomsbury Group and established in July 1913. Shone, Richard. (1999) ''The Art of Bloomsbury: Roger Fry, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant''. Princeton: Princeton University ...
, which was directed by
Roger Fry,
Vanessa Bell
Vanessa Bell (née Stephen; 30 May 1879 – 7 April 1961) was an English painter and interior designer, a member of the Bloomsbury Group and the sister of Virginia Woolf (née Stephen).
Early life and education
Vanessa Stephen was the eld ...
, and
Duncan Grant
Duncan James Corrowr Grant (21 January 1885 – 8 May 1978) was a British painter and designer of textiles, pottery, theatre sets and costumes. He was a member of the Bloomsbury Group.
His father was Bartle Grant, a "poverty-stricken" major i ...
.
Her artistic creations were widely exhibited during World War I, including at the Royal Academy in London as well as the ''
Salon d'Automne
The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The ...
'' in Paris. Back in England, she taught at the
Westminster Technical Institute
The Westminster School of Art was an art school in Westminster, London.
History
The Westminster School of Art was located at 18 Tufton Street, Deans Yard, Westminster, and was part of the old Royal Architectural Museum.
H. M. Bateman describe ...
from 1917 to 1918.
After Kristian left, she took up with another free spirit, composer
E. J. Moeran.
From the mid-1920s until the end of World War II, the area known as
Fitzrovia
Fitzrovia () is a district of central London, England, near the West End. The eastern part of area is in the London Borough of Camden, and the western in the City of Westminster. It has its roots in the Manor of Tottenham Court, and was urban ...
was London's main Bohemian artistic centre. The place took its name from the popular
Fitzroy Tavern on the corner of Charlotte and Windmill Streets that formed the area's centre. Home of the café life in Fitzrovia, it was Hamnett's favourite hangout as well as that of her friend from her home town,
Augustus John
Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarge ...
, and later another Welshman, the poet
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Und ...
.
Later life
In 1932 Hamnett published ''Laughing Torso'', a tale of her bohemian life, which became a bestseller in the UK and US. The notorious occultist
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...
unsuccessfully sued her and the publisher for libel over allegations of black magic made in her book.
Although she won the case, the situation profoundly affected her for the remainder of her life.
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...
would soon overtake her many talents
and the tragic "Queen of the Fitzroy" spent a good part of the last few decades of her life at the bar (usually that of the Fitzroy Tavern), trading anecdotes for drinks.
Twenty-three years after her first book ''Laughing Torso'' was published, Hamnett, in poor health, released a follow-up book titled: ''Is She a Lady?''.
Hamnett died in 1956 from complications after falling out of her apartment window and being impaled on the fence forty feet below. The great debate has always been whether it was a suicide attempt or merely a drunken accident. Her last words were "Why don't they let me die?"
The American novelist Julius Horwitz (1920–1986) portrayed Nina Hamnett in his 1964 novel about London during World War Two titled ''Can I Get There By Candlelight''. Horwitz was stationed outside of London during World War Two and was befriended by Hamnett as a young soldier when he would go into London on a three-day pass.
A biography, ''Nina Hamnett: Queen of Bohemia'', by
Denise Hooker was published in 1986. In 2011, Hamnett was the subject of a short film by writer/director
Chris Ward ''What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor'' starring
Siobhan Fahey
Siobhan Maire Fahey (; born 10 September 1958) is an Irish singer whose vocal range is a light contralto. She was a founding member of the group Bananarama, who have had ten top-10 hits including the List of Billboard Hot 100 number ones of 1986 ...
. In November 2019, the
Fitzrovia Chapel
The Fitzrovia Chapel is situated in Pearson Square, in the centre of the Fitzroy Place development, bordered by Mortimer Street, Cleveland Street, Nassau Street and Riding House Street in Fitzrovia, Westminster. The chapel was designed by John Lo ...
hosted an exhibition calle
Nina Hamnett - 'Everybody was Furious'.
See also
*
Betty May
Betty May (born Bessie Golding 1894, died after 1955) was a British singer, dancer, and model, who worked primarily in London's West End. She was a member of the London Bohemian set of the inter-war years, claimed to have joined a criminal gan ...
*
List of Bloomsbury Group people
This is a list of people associated with the Bloomsbury Group. Much about the group is controversial, including its membership: it has been said that "the three words 'the Bloomsbury group' have been so much used as to have become almost unusable". ...
References
External links
*
*
Photograph of Nina Hamnett
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamnett, Nina
1890 births
1956 deaths
20th-century LGBT people
20th-century Welsh painters
20th-century Welsh women artists
Bisexual artists
Bisexual women
Bisexual writers
British artists' models
Deaths from falls
British LGBT artists
British LGBT writers
Modern artists
People educated at the Royal School for Daughters of Officers of the Army
People from Tenby
Welsh women painters