Darren Coffield
Queens of Bohemia
And Other Miss-Fits
A new book by Darren Coffield
with a foreword by Marianne Faithfull
A unique insight into a generation of women who learned to value their individuality as artists, mentors, models and muses for some of the greatest British artists of the 20th century
Hardback edition signed by the Author
Queens of Bohemia And Other Miss-Fits
About the Book
Queens of Bohemia and Other Miss-fits is an affectionate rescue of many remarkable women from virtual obscurity. Taking personalities time has unfairly dismissed and bringing a fresh perspective on things past. Despite being relegated to the role of bit part actors by many cultural historians, these women occupied and often ruled Bohemia. A hard territory to place (but familiar to its inhabitants) where friendship could mean more than family, and diversity was not only accepted but celebrated. Bohemia provided women with an escape from the oppressive uniformity of a wider patriarchal society.
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Signed by the Author
Queens of Bohemia and Other Miss-Fits
Foreword By Marianne Faithfull
The book’s unique selling point is the first-hand accounts of the women themselves and the people who knew them. Too often these voices have not been heard in the correct context. Using a technique sometimes known as ‘oral history’, I have used previously unpublished memoirs and interviews to fill historical gaps – a montage of quotes and fragments of published biographies also help to create a soundscape of voices as if one were in a room listening to them talk. It also gives the reader a flavour of what it was like to be part of their bohemia, so exotic and yet occasionally rank with dampness and despair.
Darren Coffield
About the Author
Darren Coffield was born in London in 1969. He studied at Goldsmiths College, Camberwell School of Art, and the
Slade School of Art in London, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Art in 1993. He has exhibited widely in the company of many leading artists, including Damien Hirst, Howard Hodgkin, Patrick Caulfield, and Gilbert and George.
In 2014, Darren Coffield was specially selected by the jurors of 100 Painters of Tomorrow as an artist who has made a significant contribution to the painting scene today. He is the author of two cult books, Factual Nonsense: The Art and Death of Joshua Compston (Troubador 2013) and Tales from the Colony Room: Soho’s Lost Bohemia (Unbound, 2020).
What the hell happened to bohemia? It took a hundred years for poets, painters and talented layabouts to create . . . I was happier back in the old bohemia. Art was more intense, purer. Sex was hotter too – more repressed! . . . take me back to the old bohemia!
