The Man Behind The Masquerade - BBC4

Platinum BobPlatinum Bob Posts: 88
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Great documentary on last night about Kit Williams, the artist behind the Masquerade puzzle book and what he's been doing in the last 30 years since its publication. I remember spending many hours as a teenager poring over every page of the book, trying to track down the clues to the buried golden hare.

As well as his talents as a superb craftsman, I was also rather envious of the fact that he's found the perfect life we'd all want - doing his hobby as a job, to his own rules and having a strong relationship with a partner.

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  • TarotTarot Posts: 11,983
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    Great documentary on last night about Kit Williams, the artist behind the Masquerade puzzle book and what he's been doing in the last 30 years since its publication. I remember spending many hours as a teenager poring over every page of the book, trying to track down the clues to the buried golden hare.

    As well as his talents as a superb craftsman, I was also rather envious of the fact that he's found the perfect life we'd all want - doing his hobby as a job, to his own rules and having a strong relationship with a partner.

    ..and having loads of scantily clad young ladies running about the place;). Seriously though I've always admired Kit's work, it's a shame he's not thought of more highly in the art world. I spent a year or two as a teenager trying to find out where the golden hare was buried (I never came close). I wish I could afford one of his paintings now.
  • newkid30newkid30 Posts: 7,797
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    I knew very little about him:o, but found this fascinating, what an interesting man, and what a legacy of work.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4,967
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    Does anybody know who the narrator was? It's driving me mad trying to find out. It sounded like Holly Willoughby, but I'm not sure?

    Yes, it was a great documentary. I'm glad I saw it.
  • Platinum BobPlatinum Bob Posts: 88
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    Ameri wrote: »
    Does anybody know who the narrator was? It's driving me mad trying to find out. It sounded like Holly Willoughby, but I'm not sure?

    It was Janet Ellis - ex-Blue Peter and Sophie Ellis-Bextor's mum.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4,967
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    Of course!!! Janet Ellis. It's so obvious now. Thanks. :)
  • StrakerStraker Posts: 79,567
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    Caught the repeat last night. Excellent doco and made all the morseo by being narrated by uberMilF Janet Ellis. Nice to see the championing of craft and technique in art as opposed to just concept and hype that is all anyone seems concerned about these days.

    On a crass commercial point I would have liked to know what sort of price his work sells for. With such a restricted pool of buyers (most local apparently) either they have extremely deep pockets for a bunch of accidentally, geographically nearby people or he’s not asking much for them (in which case, I’ll have two!).

    High quality T&A work! :D
  • Platinum BobPlatinum Bob Posts: 88
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    Straker wrote: »
    On a crass commercial point I would have like to know what sort of price his work sells for. With such a restricted pool of buyers (most local apparently) either they have extremely deep pockets for a bunch of accidentally, geographically nearby people or he’s not asking much for them (in which case, I’ll have two!).

    The Portal Gallery has some of his works listed between £25k and £30k. So bottomless pockets required, unfortunately!

    I'm hoping the doc will spur Jonathan Cape into publishing a coffee-table book of his pictures - much more affordable!
  • StrakerStraker Posts: 79,567
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    The Portal Gallery has some of his works listed between £25k and £30k. So bottomless pockets required, unfortunately!

    I'm hoping the doc will spur Jonathan Cape into publishing a coffee-table book of his pictures - much more affordable!

    Out of my range (although I do have one more kidney than I absolutely need!) but at a rate of 10 works a year (300 over the 30 years) I suppose @£300k per annum constitutes a living wage!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 526
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    The KW doc was very enjoyable indeed -- a brilliant artist.

    I've read about Kit's shell-shocked reaction to Masquerade many times but it doesn't ring wholly true. Because if the intense public intrusion had been so intolerable from the publication of Masquerade in 1979 , why then did he publish a second puzzle book, "Bees On The Comb", five years later in 1984 -- launched on Wogan? Beneath Williams' idiosyncratic manner, I suspect there is indeed a businessman. It's also easy to seem indifferent about cash when one is already rich and sells paintings to private buyers for tens of thousands of pounds without having to compromise in the slightest. A very lucky and talented man indeed and I wouldn't begrudge him one penny. The only regret I have is that the private nature of his sales has, to date, not allowed publication of printed collections of his work -- I'd love to own a high quality hardback of his paintings.

    Anyone interested in Masquerade must read Bamber Gascoigne's Quest For The Golden Hare. It does an excellent job of describing the madness of those times and offers an amusing/disturbing insight into just how bizarre human psychology can be.
  • PufflePuffle Posts: 2,508
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    God I remember we were all obsessed by it and we were only in Junior school. I desperately wanted the book but wasn't allowed one. Didn't someone eventually find the hare?

    shame I missed the docu would have loved to have found out more about him
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 526
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    Puffle wrote: »
    Didn't someone eventually find the hare?

    JFGI

    ;-)
  • John259John259 Posts: 28,327
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    Full details here for anyone who is interested:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masquerade_%28book%29
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 151
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    A true artist. Loved the insight into his life and work, what a magical man.
  • JeffG1JeffG1 Posts: 15,243
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    JFGI

    ;-)
    So I did!! (The acronym, I mean.) Love the entry that comes top of the list. :D
  • TarotTarot Posts: 11,983
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    There is a book of Kit's early work (out of print now I think) called Out Of One Eye. It shows a good selection of his paintings up to 1979.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 526
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    JeffG1 wrote: »
    So I did!! (The acronym, I mean.) Love the entry that comes top of the list. :D

    Glad to be of service! :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 5,568
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    I'm guessing 'out of one eye' is a reference to him apparently only having one eye. Anyone know what happened to the other one?
  • HenryGartenHenryGarten Posts: 24,800
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    Great documentary on last night about Kit Williams, the artist behind the Masquerade puzzle book and what he's been doing in the last 30 years since its publication. I remember spending many hours as a teenager poring over every page of the book, trying to track down the clues to the buried golden hare.

    As well as his talents as a superb craftsman, I was also rather envious of the fact that he's found the perfect life we'd all want - doing his hobby as a job, to his own rules and having a strong relationship with a partner.

    I was disappointed by this programme. Too much about Kit's other work and not enough about the hare and other aspects of the Masquerade saga. It was interesting all the same.
  • ShrikeShrike Posts: 16,592
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    I was disappointed by this programme. Too much about Kit's other work and not enough about the hare and other aspects of the Masquerade saga. It was interesting all the same.

    At the begining of the show it was mentioned that with the anniversay of 'Masquerade' Kit had many production companies trying to make programes about it; but Kit went with this particular one as they were specificly interested in his work since masquerade.
    I agree the masquerade story is very interesting, but can appreciate that, as an artist, Kit sees it as a very small part of his life.

    I also expect he is somewhat embaressed that in the end he didn't check that the "winner" actually solved the clues at all;)
  • HenryGartenHenryGarten Posts: 24,800
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    Shrike wrote: »
    At the begining of the show it was mentioned that with the anniversay of 'Masquerade' Kit had many production companies trying to make programes about it; but Kit went with this particular one as they were specificly interested in his work since masquerade.
    I agree the masquerade story is very interesting, but can appreciate that, as an artist, Kit sees it as a very small part of his life.

    I also expect he is somewhat embaressed that in the end he didn't check that the "winner" actually solved the clues at all;)

    On flicking back through the programme I like that picture of the "head on the table". Sort of like Big Brother 5 when the team brought back the two evictees (I have forgotten their names now) :o
  • ErithianErithian Posts: 294
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    Orion wrote: »
    I'm guessing 'out of one eye' is a reference to him apparently only having one eye. Anyone know what happened to the other one?

    No, he has a divergent squint which he's had since childhood.

    Another recommendation from me for "Quest for the Golden Hare", Bamber Gascoigne's extraordinary book which details Kit's life, the preparation of the puzzle and the mania it produced among Masqueraders the world over. I loved the tale of the loony who thought it was all part of a conspiracy involving the Queen, then when Bamber carefully explained to him how the puzzle worked, he drained his pint and said "Codswallop".

    Great to see the man so contented thirty years on.
  • HenryGartenHenryGarten Posts: 24,800
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    Erithian wrote: »
    No, he has a divergent squint which he's had since childhood.

    Another recommendation from me for "Quest for the Golden Hare", Bamber Gascoigne's extraordinary book which details Kit's life, the preparation of the puzzle and the mania it produced among Masqueraders the world over. I loved the tale of the loony who thought it was all part of a conspiracy involving the Queen, then when Bamber carefully explained to him how the puzzle worked, he drained his pint and said "Codswallop".

    Great to see the man so contented thirty years on.

    Oh many years ago I stood in W H Smiths looking at a copy of that. I was going to buy it but didn't. I wish I had now.

    I think it costs a lot these days.
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