Every artist's favourite conversation topic
Lisa Hilton 12:14pm
Commerce has always deferred conversationally to art. It’s assumed that painters and writers are fascinating talkers, but from the Mermaid to the Colony room, I think they’ve only ever had one subject: money and their lack of it, or the outrageously unfair amounts of it bestowed on (naturally) less talented peers.
The legendary wit of the Algonquin was a myth fabricated to cadge martinis: Dorothy Parker and Scott Fitzgerald weren't doing anything at the Round Table other than slagging off their agents".
One effect of the credit bore though, is to induce a positive perkiness amongst creative types. At dinner at silkmaker Felix Spicer’s boho-baroque railway arch last week, a rather alarming optimism prevailed. For once, instead of moaning, four artists, two writers a composer and a film director merrily predicted a recession renaissance. People are bound to get more serious minded, spending their hoarded cash on literary novels and staying at home to listen to Lutoslawski. Or maybe it was just the need to keep feeling different. Now everyone is moaning about money, artists are obliged to discuss art.
Lisa Hilton is a biographer and historian who will be contributing regularly to Coffee House over the coming weeks. After five years in Paris, New York and Milan, Lisa has just returned to live in London. Her most recent book is "Queens Consort: A History of England's Medieval Queens"
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Austin Barry
November 25th, 2008 12:47pm Report this commentLisa, well done! You have won the Complete Tosh award for today's posts, although I concede it is only noon.
biggestaspidistra
November 25th, 2008 1:15pm Report this comment"a positive perkiness amongst creative types"
just as things seemed to get brighter in here.
Kev G
November 25th, 2008 1:18pm Report this comment"Lisa Hilton is a biographer and historian who will be contributing regularly to Coffee House ..."
Politely: please, please, please could she NOT?
Chris
November 25th, 2008 1:18pm Report this commentContributing regularly, eh? Well, as we all know, 'things can only get better.' Certainly than this start, one hopes. If I want to read Bryony Gordon, I'll fail to do so in the Telegraph, thanks.
CS
November 25th, 2008 1:36pm Report this commentOf course they're looking up. Economic devastation. Mass unemployment. Multiple repossessions. All grist to the mill of depressing documentaries and the Thatcher's Children genre beloved of those who keep themselves in clover by empathising with the suffering of others through art.
Though I suspect it was more motivated by Lisa's need for an excuse to tell everyone that she'd been to Felix Whoever's do.
Richard Lilley
November 25th, 2008 2:22pm Report this commentPlease make it stop now!
mac
November 25th, 2008 2:35pm Report this commentOh dear.
Shades of Maureen Lipman's execrable past Guardian offerings . . .
The Bellman
November 25th, 2008 2:37pm Report this commentThis is a clearly a brilliant new nom de plume for Craig Brown, a sly dig at the vapid name-droppers and intellectually-insecure autodidacts that people lifestyle journalism.
Good attention to detail, by the way: he even managed to find the right sort of utterly interchangeable, generically good-looking model for the byline photograph.
Verity
November 25th, 2008 2:50pm Report this commentWot everyone else said, and especially Chris.
For top quality egotistical, pretentious and unreadable vacuous drivel, Lisa Hilton would appear indeed to rival the inexplicable Gordon.
This is a political mag. We come here for the politics. And the other official bloggers on these very fine pages are all exceptional writers.
CS
November 25th, 2008 2:54pm Report this comment***Her most recent book is "Queens Consort: A History of England's Medieval Queens"***
What? All of them? That promises to be an in-depth book.
Ivy Eileen
November 25th, 2008 2:55pm Report this commentThere must be better ways to spend your money.
Pure unadulterated drivel.
RK
November 25th, 2008 3:28pm Report this commentNot an auspicious debut. Please - no more.
Polly and Alice's mum
November 25th, 2008 3:46pm Report this commentOh please not! I thought coffeehouse was supposed to be about politics.
Couldn't she do this somewhere else?
CG
November 25th, 2008 4:22pm Report this commentI thought it was supposed to be about politics AND culture, so there is nothing wrong with this article. If you don't like it, nobody is making you read it. Or maybe you like to so you can moan, I don't know.
Hereford
November 25th, 2008 5:38pm Report this commentEven more frothy and shallow than Emile Maitliss' offering a couple of weeks ago. Please, if you are going to bring in new writers, make sure they don't splurt such inconsequential drivel.
This is a tough crowd Lisa.
Chris
November 25th, 2008 6:39pm Report this commentBut CG, how can we know we don't like it without reading it? Do try harder, please.
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