Archive of Marxist art historian security cleared by Anthony Blunt in war for sale at Bonhams
MARXIST ART HISTORIAN’S ARCHIVES FOR SALE AT BONHAMS
SECURITY CLEARED BY SOVIET AGENT ANTHONY BLUNT IN WWII
The private papers of leading Marxist art historian, Francis Klingender, are to be sold at Bonhams Printed Books and Maps sale in Oxford on 23 February.
An avowed Communist, Klingender was kept under security surveillance from the early 1930s onwards. During the Second World War he was excused military service because of ill-health and instead joined the Ministry of Home Security as a statistician. Ironically, his security file was reviewed by fellow communist - and Soviet spy - Anthony Blunt, then working as an M15 officer, who concluded that Klingender’s beliefs were essentially intellectual and that he was “quite confident that he would not do anything disloyal to this country”.
Despite subsequent contact with both Blunt and Guy Burgess, a fellow member of the Cambridge spy ring who defected to the Soviet Union in 1951, there is no suggestion that Klingender himself was ever involved in espionage.
The Klingender’s archive provides a fascinating insight into his personal and academic life and those of the times in which he lived. The material features family papers from his childhood in Germany and a collection of over 70 political cartoons by, among others, Gilray and Hogarth, which formed the basis of his book, ‘Hogarth and the English caricature’ published in 1944. In 1948 he donated an important collection of caricatures to the British Museum.
Bonhams Head of Books, Maps and Manuscripts David Park said, “Klingender was a significant figure in art history at a time when intellectual and cultural debate had a much greater influence on wider political thinking than it does now. He was deeply interested in the role of political cartoons in fighting tyranny and the caricatures in the Bonhams auction bears out this fascination.”
The archive, which is being sold in separate lots, has an estimated value of around £40,000.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further seven throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston in the USA; and Switzerland, France, Monaco, Hong Kong and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 50 specialist areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com.
