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Hajar | profile | all galleries >> Art of Jan and Cora Gordon >> Obituaries of Jan and Cora Gordon 1944 and 1950 tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Obituaries of Jan and Cora Gordon 1944 and 1950

Jan Gordon died age 61 at 48D, Clanricarde Gardens, Bayswater, London in February 1944.

Jack Bilbo wrote an obituary, "Salute to Jan Gordon", in the October 1944 issue of The Studio magazine.
“I remember when he and Cora used to sit in my den on Saturday afternoons when the gallery was closed, when we exchanged travel experiences from Spain and Yugoslavia, from Mexico and Scandinavia, or talked about artists and paintings, how the four walls of my little room seemed to move away into far distances.”

In this same issue (on the next page) Cora Gordon continued Jan's duties in writing the "London Commentary". ( https://pbase.com/hajar/image/144476612 )

A memorial exhibition of Jan Gordon's work was held at the Modern Art Gallery, Charles II Street, Haymarket, between April 14th and May 13th 1944. Accounts of this exhibition can be read here: http://janandcoragordonart.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-jan-gordon-memorial-exhibition-1944.html

Another obituary of Jan Gordon, published in the Glasgow Herald of February 4th 1944, observed that "Mr Gordon's many-sidedness had a touch of the Italian Renaissance." "He was trained as a mining engineer, but a Bohemian streak in him soon tempted him to Paris and the Quartier Latin."

Other obituaries of Jan Gordon were published in the Manchester Guardian ( http://janandcoragordonart.blogspot.com/2015/03/obituary-of-jan-gordon-in-manchester.html ), the Liverpool Daily Post ( http://janandcoragordonart.blogspot.com/2016/06/an-obituary-of-jan-gordon-life-in-round.html ), The Observer ( http://janandcoragordonart.blogspot.com/2015/03/obituary-of-jan-gordon-in-observer.html ) and The New York Times ( http://janandcoragordonart.blogspot.com/2016/03/an-obituary-fot-jan-gordon-in-new-york.html ).

Cora Gordon died on July 1st 1950. An obituary published in The Studio in the September 1950 issue is shown below. See: http://janandcoragordonart.blogspot.com/2015/02/cora-josephine-gordon-obituary.html together with her last London Commentary report for The Studio. See: http://janandcoragordonart.blogspot.com/2015/02/cora-gordons-last-london-commentary.html
An obituary in The Times can be read here: http://janandcoragordonart.blogspot.com/2015/03/obituary-of-cora-gordon-in-times.html
My father visited the Clanricarde Gardens flat shortly after her death.

Perhaps the best epitaph for the life the Gordons led can be found in Cora's "The Artist as a Traveller", published in October 1950 as part of a collection of "original contributions towards a philosophy of travel." It begins with, "The artist is a privileged traveller, for his is the only quest that is almost bound to be successful. In other respects, too, artists on their travels enjoy more privileges than other mortals. For one thing the simple people of this world seem to have an innate sympathy for them, at worst a sort of tolerance." It is a delightful meditation on all of their travels together. See: http://janandcoragordonart.blogspot.com/2015/03/cora-gordon-on-artist-as-traveller-1950.html
Jack Bilbo's obituary of Jan Gordon. Author's collection. Jack Bilbo's obituary of Jan Gordon. Author's collection. Cora Gordon's London Commentary in the October 1944 issue of The Studio. Author's collection. Gordon memorial exhibition. Books owned by Dr. W.D.A. Smith are ticked off.
Gordon memorial exhibition Glasgow Herald obituary, February 4th 1944. Cora Gordon obituary in THE STUDIO September 1950 Cora Gordon's last London commentary, June 1950.