Literature

Creffield’s project to draw eleven cathedrals in northern France followed the much more widely known English project in 1990. The Arts Council commission took two years to cover twenty six cathedrals in England. In Northern France, without the same level of financial support, Creffield had one month. Writing in the exhibition catalogue that accompanied the subsequent show of the drawings at the Albemarle Gallery (Creffield’s first ‘West-End show at the age of 60), Richard Cork noted how Creffield’s journey through Northern France had a very different feel to his tour through the bucolic English countryside. Creffield was constantly reminded of the cemeteries and First World War battlefields which dotted the landscape; the weight of the area’s recent history bore down on his treatment of the subject (as did the weather – whichwas not kind to the artist).

Le Mans is unusual for being horizontal in format and for the compositional weighting towards the right side.Creffield described the cathedral as “a masterful nest of cunning complexity” before remarking that it wasalmost impossible to draw. His experience of the building was ‘enhanced’ by the incessant background noise of car engines – his visit coincided with the famous 24 hour race.