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STOPPARD, Tom
Signed notecard to ‘Peter’
July 4th [c. 2001]
A handwritten notecard on Stoppard’s own headed stationery (16 x 10cm) written in ink on recto only and dated July 4th; fine.
“Dear Peter” he writes, “Thank you for your generous words. I’m afraid I have no text of my RA remarks, I didn’t speak from one. I’m glad all seems well with you. We both keep working anyway. Yours, Tom”.
The recipient is unknown, but research suggests that it is likely to be the English playwright, screenwriter, director and journalist Peter Nichols (1927-2019). The pair moved in similar circles during their years in Bristol, and shared an active, if somewhat spiky, correspondence over many years. Indeed, one of Nichols’ plays, ‘A Piece of my Mind’, contains the characters of Ted Forrest and his envious relationship with Miles Whittier, a younger, more successful playwright thought to be based on the character of Stoppard. Nichols passed away in 2019, just a few years before this notecard was made available for sale.
Equally, the date is unstated, but his reference to the RA may well be in relation to his infamous remarks made by him at the Royal Academy’s annual dinner in 2001, in which he gave a keynote speech criticising the Young British Artist movement. "The term artist isn't intelligible to me if it doesn't entail making" he claimed, before going on to refer to Tracy Emin's exhibit ‘My Bed’ as being "but a hop, skip and jump to Tracy's knickers."
For a comprehensive Tom Stoppard bibliography, please visit Mark Warner’s Bibliographies online (https://bibliographies.online/stoppard-index-to-works/)
STOPPARD, Tom
Signed notecard to ‘Peter’
July 4th [c. 2001]
A handwritten notecard on Stoppard’s own headed stationery (16 x 10cm) written in ink on recto only and dated July 4th; fine.
“Dear Peter” he writes, “Thank you for your generous words. I’m afraid I have no text of my RA remarks, I didn’t speak from one. I’m glad all seems well with you. We both keep working anyway. Yours, Tom”.
The recipient is unknown, but research suggests that it is likely to be the English playwright, screenwriter, director and journalist Peter Nichols (1927-2019). The pair moved in similar circles during their years in Bristol, and shared an active, if somewhat spiky, correspondence over many years. Indeed, one of Nichols’ plays, ‘A Piece of my Mind’, contains the characters of Ted Forrest and his envious relationship with Miles Whittier, a younger, more successful playwright thought to be based on the character of Stoppard. Nichols passed away in 2019, just a few years before this notecard was made available for sale.
Equally, the date is unstated, but his reference to the RA may well be in relation to his infamous remarks made by him at the Royal Academy’s annual dinner in 2001, in which he gave a keynote speech criticising the Young British Artist movement. "The term artist isn't intelligible to me if it doesn't entail making" he claimed, before going on to refer to Tracy Emin's exhibit ‘My Bed’ as being "but a hop, skip and jump to Tracy's knickers."
For a comprehensive Tom Stoppard bibliography, please visit Mark Warner’s Bibliographies online (https://bibliographies.online/stoppard-index-to-works/)