Claudia Schiffer says:
‘Andy Warhol has a special place in my heart. In my first few years modelling, when I was living in Le Marais in Paris, I spent a lot of time visiting galleries.
'I remember being inspired by an incredible Warhol exhibition at the Pompidou and seeing the ‘Camouflage’ series for the first time. I decided: one day, I’m going to own one of those. It was the first gift I bought myself and it now hangs in our study.'
Claudia Schiffer is one of the world’s most photographed models. Her new book, Claudia Schiffer, is published by Rizzoli.
John McEwan says:
In his biography of Picasso, Sir John Richardson writes: ‘When Picasso returned to Paris [in 1914] and saw a convoy of camouflaged artillery lumber up the Boulevard Raspail, he turned to Gertrude Stein and said: “We were the ones who did that”—“we” meaning the creators of Cubism. Cubism abstracted the image by negating the traditional ways of creating an illusion of reality—perspective, modelling and foreshortening. Camouflage disguised the three-dimensional shape of objects.’
Cubism, the modern origin of abstract art, anticipates this picture—one screenprint from a nine-part, limited-edition set—and the use of abstraction to military ends.
It hardly matters if Andy Warhol is not on the record as having mentioned Picasso’s well-known statement: that Cubism influenced camouflage is inarguable, so Warhol’s picture adds a pleasing ironic twist. It remains a perfect example by pictorial means of the philosophy of Warhol, as expressed in his highly recommendable and significantly titled book From A to B and Back Again: art to camouflage and back to art again.
In From A to B, Warhol said: ‘In some circles where very heavy people think they have very heavy brains, words like “charming” and “clever” and “pretty” are all put-downs; all the lighter things in life, which are the most important things, are put down.’ What could be more charming, pretty and witty than to turn battledress material into a pleasing abstract picture?
It is well to remember that Warhol had a considerable hinterland. On Easter Sunday 1986, the genesis year of the ‘Camouflage’ series, as a faithful Christian, he spent lunch anonymously helping serve the poor at the Episcopal Church on 90th Street and Fifth Avenue, Manhattan.
My favourite painting: Chris Patten
'It exemplifies one of the most important values in public life–or in all life, for that matter–namely, magnanimity.'
My Favourite Painting: Lulu
Lulu chooses her favourite painting for Country Life.
My favourite painting: David Starkey
David Starkey shares the one painting he would own, if he could
My favourite painting: Jacqueline Wilson
'I looked at this painting and decided to write about a Victorian circus girl one day'
My favourite painting: Robert Macfarlane
Robert Macfarlane chooses his favourite painting for Country Life.
-
Game, set, match: 12 of the world’s most beautiful tennis courtsFrom Italy to Indonesia, when it comes to hotel amenities, a picturesque tennis court will always trump a 24-hour gym. So, before you book your next holiday, take a look at our pick of the 12 best.
-
Five frankly enormous mansions, including one with its own private swimming lake, as seen in Country LifeSometimes bigger really is better.
-
'As a child I wanted to snuggle up with the dogs and be part of it': Alexia Robinson chooses her favourite paintingAlexia Robinson, founder of Love British Food, chooses an Edwin Landseer classic.
-
The Pre-Raphaelite painter who swapped 'willowy, nubile women' for stained glass — and created some of the best examples in BritainThe painter Edward Burne-Jones turned from paint to glass for much of his career. James Hughes, director of the Victorian Society, chooses a glass masterpiece by Burne-Jones as his favourite 'painting'.
-
'I can’t look away. I’m captivated': The painter who takes years over each portrait, with the only guarantee being that it won't look like the subjectFor Country Life's My Favourite Painting slot, the writer Emily Howes chooses a work by a daring and challenging artist: Frank Auerbach.
-
My Favourite Painting: Rob HouchenThe actor Rob Houchen chooses a bold and challenging Egon Schiele work.
-
My Favourite Painting: Jeremy Clarkson'That's why this is my favourite painting. Because it invites you to imagine'
-
The chair of the National Gallery names his favourite from among the 2,300 masterpieces — and it will come as a bit of a shockAs the National Gallery turns 200, the chair of its board of trustees, John Booth, chooses his favourite painting.
-
'A wonderful reminder of what the countryside could and should be': The 200-year-old watercolour of a world fast disappearingChristopher Price of the Rare Breed Survival Trust on the bucolic beauty of The Magic Apple Tree by Samuel Palmer, which he nominates as his favourite painting.
-
My favourite painting: Andrew Graham-Dixon'Lesson Number One: it’s the pictures that baffle and tantalise you that stay in the mind forever .'
