Announcement

**Fi Saint** · 12-21-2010, 07:38 PM

To impress the Vingtistes - in the name of anarchy (see article in 117). I don't think he was an anarchist, although he is known to have taken an active part in an abortive anarchist uprising in 1885 across the border between France and Spain, on behalf of a man called Calzado, a revolutionary Spanish politician, friend of his guardian Gustave Arosa. You are right Maria, Gauguin was the worst type of slut, and would have done anything to endear himself to the artistic elite. He was rewarded in 1888 with an invitation to exhibit with Les XX. Thank you for asking.

Fi

**lynn cates** · 12-21-2010, 07:47 PM

impressive

Hello Fiona. Were you thinking of all 5, or merely some?

I'm wondering, if one wishes merely to impress, would not a simple murder do as well?

Cheers.
LC

**Fi Saint** · 12-21-2010, 11:12 PM

Van Gogh was dead by 4 years when the Mary Kelly murder scene photos got published for the very first time (in Andr� Lamoureux�s 1894 doctoral thesis De l��ventration au point de vue m�dico-l�gal, followed up a couple years later by his mentor's, Alexandre Lacassagne's, book).

Quite. I think Gauguin painted her from memory, not from, a morgue photograph. In other words, he knew her. It is feasible, if she had been part of the same set in Paris a couple of years earlier.

Best,
Fi

**lynn cates** · 12-21-2010, 11:23 PM

aspect

Hello Fiona. I was wondering which aspect of Gauguin's painting/s you were focusing on for the resemblance? (If it's the one with the grape harvest, the young lady looks rather melancholy.)

Cheers.
LC

**Fi Saint** · 12-22-2010, 03:00 AM

Hello Lynn,

Yes the despairing young lady sitting with her head in her hands in front of the grape harvest, entitled Human Misery. She also appears in a zincograph of 1889 (one of the Volpini set).

Were you thinking of all 5, or merely some?

I'm wondering, if one wishes merely to impress, would not a simple murder do as well?

- in order to satisfy the criteria of propaganda by deed it had to be shocking and bloodthirsty, therefore more than one death, as gory as possible to grab the headlines.

I certainly don't think Gauguin was responsible for Mary Kelly's death; he was with Van Gogh in Arles by then (since Oct 23). I believe Kelly may have been chosen specifically because of her connection to him / his circle. Liz Stride I think was murdered by the a faction of the anarchists' opponents (and there are many to choose from), since she was dumped at their door. Eddowes' murder, an instant reprisal carried out by the anarchists (poss Gauguin).

Gauguin's passage to Tahiti was assisted by the French Government in 1891. A few months later the case was closed. Granted, he came back to Paris - at the height of anarchist activity in 1893 - but he returned to the Marquesas Islands and ended up on Hiva Oa, the remotest island on earth. Full of naive native girls and at the time, still cannibalistic. A perfect place for JtR to end his days.

His death at the age of 53 came as he was awaiting a 3 month prison sentence for writing a slanderous letter to the chief of police accusing him of not doing anything to find the killer of a local woman. The cause of the woman's death was identical to that of Emma Smith in 1888, brutal assault by a blunt instrument; this woman died two weeks later from her wounds.

Gauguin's unseemly interest in this case at the end of his life has been glossed over by art historians, in fact a crucial line pertaining to the murder has been completely omitted from a recent translation of his memoirs.

Gauguin had an extraordinary childhood, but his family history is equally turbulent. The early feminist and socialist activist Flora Tristan - his maternal grandmother - was something of an icon in his life, however, she virtually abandoned her daughter Aline in order to carry out her activities. Gauguin's grandfather served 18 years in prison for attempting to murder Flora, because she claimed he had molested Aline while in his care at the age of 13. Aline became Gauguin's mother.

Flora spent a period living in London which she detested for its hypocracy - she later wrote a detailed and scathing expos� of prostitution in London's East End which was a best seller in France but not much read in England - if Gauguin was JtR he could have in some warped way been following in her footsteps. Gauguin named his eldest child Aline, and married a 13 year old. This guy had issues.

It has been said that Flora came up with the idea of an international workers' movement, but was not given credit for this by Karl Marx.

Enough with the motives?

Although Gauguin is thought to have been in France at the time of the Ripper murders, I have been able to find no conclusive proof that he was continuously on French soil at the time. He was a very experienced sailor (7 years in the French Navy) and could have made the journey from Brittany and back by boat. A relatively unknown 1893 canvas from a private collection currently at Tate Modern's Gauguin exhibition depicts a figure in a red hooded cape being taken across a stormy sea in a barque. The colour red was Gauguin's signature colour - in Tahiti, Gauguin tell us, it signifies death.

Gauguin's well was recently excavated in Hiva Oa; they found a couple of teeth, some morphine phials and various bottles. Sadly no ginger beer bottles with remains of the proper red stuff tho.

Of course if he did turn out to be the Ripper, then it would put a whole different complexion on Van Gogh's 'madness' and suicide.

Best,
Fi

**Fi Saint** · 12-22-2010, 03:05 AM

I just realized I didn't really address your question about which 'aspect' of Human Misery I think pertains to Mary Kelly. I will have to redirect you to the article in Rip 114, which deals with the symbolism of this image in detail.

Other than that, there is the fact that she is red headed, and so could be Welsh or Irish.

**lynn cates** · 12-22-2010, 12:25 PM

respondeo quod

Hello Fiona. Thanks for taking the trouble to address my concerns.

" . . . in order to satisfy the criteria of propaganda by deed it had to be shocking and bloodthirsty, therefore more than one death, as gory as possible to grab the headlines."

I see. But I wonder if multiple stab wounds (as in Tabram's case) wouldn't be shocking enough? Whoever killed Polly serves, I think, as a prototype for the rest. In my mind--and in SY's collective one--that points to a lunatic. To put it another way, it is difficult for me to conceive of any plot where mutilation/eviseration were conceived from the very beginning.

"I certainly don't think Gauguin was responsible for Mary Kelly's death; he was with Van Gogh in Arles by then (since Oct 23)."

I tend to agree.

"I believe Kelly may have been chosen specifically because of her connection to him / his circle."

Do we have any demonstrable ones here? I'd be delighted to investigate any that might pop up.

"Liz Stride I think was murdered by . . . a faction of the anarchists' opponents (and there are many to choose from), since she was dumped at their door."

Can't disagree here--you seem on solid ground. Sir Charles thought so too.

"Eddowes' murder, an instant reprisal carried out by the anarchists . . . "

You mean totally random? Perhaps, but reprisals are quite often designated as such to retain their full force and vigour. (Something like a note indicating, "For every one of us, two of you!")

"Gauguin's passage to Tahiti was assisted by the French Government in 1891. A few months later the case was closed. Granted, he came back to Paris - at the height of anarchist activity in 1893 - but he returned to the Marquesas Islands and ended up on Hiva Oa, the remotest island on earth. Full of naive native girls and at the time, still cannibalistic. A perfect place for JtR to end his days."

Does this imply knowledge or complicity by the Surete? That would be interesting.

"His death at the age of 53 came as he was awaiting a 3 month prison sentence for writing a slanderous letter to the chief of police accusing him of not doing anything to find the killer of a local woman. The cause of the woman's death was identical to that of Emma Smith in 1888, brutal assault by a blunt instrument; this woman died two weeks later from her wounds."

If he had any complicity in the WCM or the death of the local girl, would not silence serve him better?

"Gauguin's unseemly interest in this case at the end of his life has been glossed over by art historians, in fact a crucial line pertaining to the murder has been completely omitted from a recent translation of his memoirs.'

Indeed? But I wonder if most of us who post on Casebook do not also have an unseemly interest in the "case"?

"Gauguin had an extraordinary childhood, but his family history is equally turbulent. The early feminist and socialist activist Flora Tristan - his maternal grandmother - was something of an icon in his life, however, she virtually abandoned her daughter Aline in order to carry out her activities. Gauguin's grandfather served 18 years in prison for attempting to murder Flora, because she claimed he had molested Aline while in his care at the age of 13. Aline became Gauguin's mother.

Flora spent a period living in London which she detested for its hypocri[s]y - she later wrote a detailed and scathing expos� of prostitution in London's East End which was a best seller in France but not much read in England - if Gauguin was JtR he could have in some warped way been following in her footsteps. Gauguin named his eldest child Aline, and married a 13 year old. This guy had issues."

Indeed. I think anyone who abandons his family is being irresponsible, etc. And I agree with you that he, like so many "Bohemian" artists of the last half of the 19th C were troubled.

"It has been said that Flora came up with the idea of an international workers' movement, but was not given credit for this by Karl Marx."

So then Gauguin would be sympathetic to anarchism/socialism?

"Enough with the motives?"

Well, I would like to see a motive for actually killing someone and then mutilating the victim. In fact, my starting point for any murder begins with the boring old police rubric--"Motive and opportunity."

"Although Gauguin is thought to have been in France at the time of the Ripper murders, I have been able to find no conclusive proof that he was continuously on French soil at the time. He was a very experienced sailor (7 years in the French Navy) and could have made the journey from Brittany and back by boat. "

Good. I think the nub of your scenario is intimately tied to this and further research must settle this question first.

"A relatively unknown 1893 canvas from a private collection currently at Tate Modern's Gauguin exhibition depicts a figure in a red hooded cape being taken across a stormy sea in a barque. The colour red was Gauguin's signature colour - in Tahiti, Gauguin tell us, it signifies death."

Very well. This makes him sound morbid and I think he was. But I wonder if many of his ilk were not so?

But I thank you again for this. It requires a good deal of thought.

Cheers.
LC

**Fi Saint** · 12-22-2010, 09:36 PM

Hello Lynn,

Thanks for taking this seriously enough to raise these points. Some are purely a matter of opinion, and like you, I want to ascertain facts.

You ask me to clarify Kelly's possible association with Gauguin's circle - I am only going on what I read in Tom Westcott's recent article which suggests the decadent poet Ernest Dowson knew her. Dowson was a friend of Robert Sherard; Sherard was an intimate friend of Oscar Wilde and his set, which included Degas, a close friend of Gauguin.

The next point you agree on.

Eddowes' murder a random reprisal? I fancy she was a traitor, it's logical. But that's just my opinion.

Gauguin's passage to Tahiti was facilitated by Ary Renan, son of the eminent philosopher Ernest, who secured him an 'official mission' in the French colony, and by Georges Clemencau, later to be French prime minister, who secured Gauguin a 30% reduction on the fare. Gauguin set sail to Tahiti armed with an official letter of introduction to King Pomare of Tahiti on April Fools' Day 1891; I believe the Ripper case was closed the following year.

Gauguin had friends in high places. He had been taught by the Bishop of Orleans. He also declared he wanted to provoke a war between France and England.

I agree that many artists at this time led troubled and disorganized lives, but Gauguin has actually been labelled a narcissist.

"It has been said that Flora came up with the idea of an international workers' movement, but was not given credit for this by Karl Marx."
You replied:
So then Gauguin would be sympathetic to anarchism/socialism?

Or revenge!

With regards to the fundamental starting point - was Gauguin in France at the time of the murders - I am currently trying to get sight of the collection of visitors books made by a Dr. Leon Pallaux after the Pont-Aven group had left Brittany. However, art historian Wladyslawa Jaworska, who has seen these records, states: (there is) much vagueness about dates and other factual details, so that the historian is greatly hindered in his attempt to trace the chronology of the group's development, and to show who joined it when.

I stated in an earlier post that Gauguin took part in an attempted insurrection in Spain with a man called Calzado in 1885; I was wrong, his name was Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla and it was 1883. I have had a stern word with myself.

I would be happy to address any other concerns you or anyone else might have, and I would love to hear from anyone who can contribute any more information.

Fiona

**lynn cates** · 12-22-2010, 11:07 PM

points

Hello Fiona. I think your delving into dates is the most critical aspect of your work. Do keep it up!

Regarding Eddowes: I am sure you have seen the Special Branch ledger entry under Catherine Kelly. Debra Arif and some others have tried to ascertain if this is the same one (it appears with a John Kelly). Whilst the jury is out, it is reasonable to suppose that, if they are the same, John and Kate found similar employment AFTER the Jenkinson spy ring broke up. You might check this angle if you wish.

Good luck with your research.

Cheers.
LC

**Fi Saint** · 12-22-2010, 11:51 PM

Thanks for your encouragement, Lynn.

Fiona

**lynn cates** · 12-27-2010, 02:36 PM

Juden hetze

Hello All. The following snippet is taken from testimony of Arnold Henry White before the House of Lords select committee on sweating, May 1, 1888 (generously provided by Debra Arif).

He seems to understand the ramifications of a conundrum amongst the Jewish population in East London. Sir Charles seemed also aware of such possibilities only 5 months later when he (wisely?) had the GSG expunged.

Cheers.
LC

Attached Files