Interview with Laurence Anholt
You’re celebrating the release of Small Stories of Great Artists, published by TASCHEN, which gave you the opportunity to visit many artists' homes & studios, as well as interviewing their relatives - is there a specific experience that stands out in those 30 years?
My stories are about great artists and the real children who knew them. In each case I found myself on an intriguing detective trail as I visited the places where the artists had lived, tracking down descendants of the artists and the children who met them. While working on The Magical Garden of Claude Monet, my publishers obtained permission for me to visit Monet’s house in Giverny when it was closed to the public. I would turn up each day before dawn and the night watchman would let me in. I had the extraordinary experience of wandering around the house on my own, through his kitchen and dining room and bedroom. I literally composed my story sitting at Monet’s desk as the sun rose over the lilyponds.
When my American publisher asked me to develop a story about Picasso, I had more trouble because the family were very guarded. I followed countless false leads and was almost ready to give up, when serendipity intervened. One night at a dinner party I found myself sitting beside a shy but elegant French artist who had come across my picture book series about great artists. “You should do a book about Picasso!” she suggested. To my absolute astonishment, my dinner companion turned out to be none other than Sylvette David, Picasso’s Girl with a Ponytail. We became great friends and the ensuing picture book, Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail was her account of an extraordinary summer in Vallauris in 1954, in which that shy and beautiful teenager attained worldwide fame as Picasso’s muse. As she turns ninety, Sylvette David (now Lydia Corbett) remains every bit as stylish and creative as she was then.
If you could step into one of the Artist books to meet an artist as your child self, who would you visit?
Frida Kahlo was an extraordinary woman. Not just a great painter, but a pioneering feminist icon. The way in which she overcame such extreme adversity is an inspiration to children, something which I explored in my story, Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World.
But my favourite artist has always been Vincent van Gogh. My father was a Dutchman, and I spent my early years in the Netherlands. Seeing those paintings as a child felt like being swept into a swirling multi-coloured snowstorm. It made me as giddy as a fairground. Van Gogh was a visionary, a man of huge empathy and wisdom, but also an outsider. In my story Camille and the Sunflowers, the young protagonist Camille Roulin is the son of the postmaster in Arles. Like Camille’s family, I would love to knock at the door of the Yellow House and offer Vincent some of the friendship and respect that eluded that lonesome genius.
How has your time in the West Country impacted your approach to writing and art?
My mum’s family were originally from Exeter, and my wife Cathy and I have lived in Devon and Dorset for more than thirty years. We moved from London when our children were very small, and they were fortunate to attend some of the fantastic schools in this area; now our twin grandchildren are growing up in the same wonderful place. Cathy and I live and work in a house on a hill overlooking the Axe Valley, where we have a small rewilding project – some woodland and wildflower meadows, bustling with bees and butterflies; and grazed by Devon Red Ruby cattle. It’s the most serene and creative place I know, and we feel blessed to be here.
Has Devon inspired your writing since moving to the county?
A small claim to fame is that I have created books for every age - from baby board books, through picture books, early readers, young adult fiction and most recently an adult crime series called The Mindful Detective. The central protagonist is a reluctant Buddhist cop who feels too much for his own good. When he’s not solving weird West Country crimes, he retreats to his secluded cabin on the Undercliff. There are three novels in the series so far; each set here in my home turf, so you could say that my inspiration lies in the Jurassic soil beneath my feet.
Do you have a favourite Devon writer and/or artist?
I’m privileged to know several highly talented writers, musicians and artists in this area, not least two extraordinary poets – Selima Hill and Greta Stoddart. I also met John Fowles many times - a hugely entertaining man with an encyclopaedic knowledge of everything from paganism to palaeontology. He gave me some great advice when I was working on my children’s book, Stone Girl, Bone Girl about Mary Anning.
But I would be failing as a husband and dad if I did not big-up my two favourite artists of all – my wife Catherine Anholt is a Royal College trained painter, whose shimmering paintings pour from her studio. A year ago, our family suffered the unimaginable loss of our beloved 35-year-old daughter, Maddy. Cathy’s work reflects the long, painful journey of a mother’s grief, and yet her paintings emanate hope and light. Do search for Catherine Anholt on Instagram, and while you’re at it, take a look at the huge dreamlike paintings of our son Tom Anholt, a Berlin based artist whose work sells all over the world. Tom was Maddy’s twin, and that loss has shaped and informed his work in extraordinary ways. I am equally proud of our eldest daughter, Claire Duthuit, Director of Communications for UN Climate - as you may have guessed, family is everything to me.
Inspired by your adult crime series The Mindful Detective - do you see a strong correlation between reading and wellbeing?
I’m a longstanding member of a local Buddhist group, so daily meditation is an important part of my life. Like many writers I am an overthinker, with a brain like Piccadilly Circus in the rush hour; the daily practice of centring myself in silence is an essential part of the creative process.
Being a reader is something that is so habitual that I barely give it thought; but I read for pleasure; for knowledge; for healing, and for calm at the end of the day. Not a Kindle or an iPad for me - I love a book with a cover and paper pages, preferably a little musty! By my bed stands what the Japanese call Tsundoku - a teetering tower of yet-to-be-discovered tales.
For a spot of literary escapism, could you recommend a reading location in the West Country?
As you step out of the shadows of the Undercliff, through the waving grasses of Ware Common, you’ll reach a pair of rough-hewn, backless benches high above the sparkling panorama of Lyme Bay, where the Cobb snakes into the sea. There’s something soothing about this primeval place. You sit with a notebook on your lap as swallows swoop in the sunlight, and for an hour or an afternoon, time seems to stand still…
Do you have a favourite independent bookshop in the West Country?
Many years ago, my wife and I owned a tiny, magical children’s bookshop in Lyme Regis called Chimp and Zee Bookshop by the Sea. That emporium is long gone, but on the other side of Broad Street is the wonderful Lyme Regis Bookshop. That’s where I go to browse and feed my bibliomaniacal tendencies. It’s also the place where I have launched several of my own books over the years, and it’s where we’re about to celebrate the publication of Small Stories of Great Artists - a 336-page, self-illustrated anthology of my stories about great artists for children. The book has been lovingly produced by the brilliant team at Taschen in Cologne, featuring a vivid blue cover with gold hand-lettering, dozens of reproductions of the artists’ work, and even a silky ribbon bookmark. I do love a nicely produced book, and this is one of which I am embarrassingly proud. I have dedicated it to my four beautiful grandchildren, with a starry night of kisses.
Discover the world’s greatest artists, including Frida Kahlo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Vincent van Gogh, and the stories of the real children who knew them. Now, for the first time, Laurence Anholt’s beloved children’s art book series, which has sold millions of copies around the world, has been compiled into one inspirational volume. Purchase Small Stories Of Great Artists here >>
Laurence Anholt, September 2024
