A Spanish-language blogger posting on En Compostela (literally “In Compostela”, probably referring to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain) has written an illustrated report of a visit to the Evelyn Waugh exhibition (“City of Acquatint”) at the Bodleian Library in Oxford:
On the occasion of the publication of the first volumes of the Complete Works [of Evelyn Waugh] there was a small exhibition in the Weston Library. The printed material was mostly negative, but at least there were original things of Waugh, especially of the artistic facet of his career… Being a painter (failed) is a theme that runs through his work: This in particular [is illustrated in] two prints of 1923… Richard Pares [and] Harold Acton who is declaiming The Waste Land with a loudspeaker, just like Anthony Blanche in Brideshead Revisited…There is also a police citation for drunk driving in a car with Matthew Ponsonby. The tabloids were primed, calling Waugh, without saying his name, the “incapably drunk passenger.” That too ended up in Bridshead Revisited. If Waugh were just the sum of what is displayed (apart from the drawings) as positive, he would be a pretty disgusting person: posh, drunk, frivolous. What makes him great is what they tried to ignore, precisely, that greatness that they do not recognize, alas, even in Oxford itself.
The posting contains several photos of the items mounted in the exhibit which was scheduled to run through 22 October. The translation is by Google Translate with some effort at editing what appears to be vernacular Spanish. Any efforts to improve it by commenting below would be appreciated. The weblog also contains reports and photos of a visit to Christ Church, both the college and the cathedral, posted below those of the Waugh exhibit.
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