If Hollywood writers submitted a love story based on the home life of the first five-time winner of the Tour de France Jacques Anquetil who died in 1987, the focus groups would throw it out for being far too unlikely. James Straffon, an artist with a passion for cycling, hopes to convey some of the French champion's own passion in a triptych titled 'Le Baiser de sa femme Janine' - the - ahem - kiss of my wife Janine.
How can we put this? Anquetil and his wife Janine married in 1958 but she appeared unable to produce children with Anquetil so she suggested her own daughter 18-year-old Annie by her first husband - Anquetil's doctor - as a surrogate mother for new offspring. Which duly arrived in the form of Sophie who went on to write a book in 2004 'Pour l'amour de Jacques' revealing not only the name of her hitherto secret father but that the dangerously alluring cycling star had also gone on to form an alliance amour with Sophie's brother Alain's wife Dominique. Or to put it another way; Dominique, the wife of Janine's second child Alain, who also produced a child by Anquetil. Blimey.
Here is James Straffon on his own painting:
"Le Baiser de sa femme Janine is a work fused with tension and drama. The backdrop is the 1961 Tour de France, which race organiser Jacques Goddet later termed a 'fiasco'. It would be the last Tour to be contested by national teams - the 1962 Tour de France heralded the familiar structure of the modern era, with its peloton composed of sponsored teams. In 1961 Jacques Anquetil held the leader's yellow jersey from start to finish, a feat he arrogantly announced before the race had even begun. Such chutzpah perfectly illustrated the man who would be known as Maître Jacques.
Pursed lips lay at the epicentre of Le Baiser, yet both sets of eyes look outwards. This central tableau is bookended by the man himself - eyes bowed in contemplation, a bead of sweat running off one cheek. These two identical views are created from original front covers of magazine Miroir Sprint.
Such mute reflection conceals the intricate memoirs of an enigma. Hidden behind a secret kiss."
'Le Baiser de sa femme Janine' by James Straffon
Acrylic, collage, newsprint and pen on canvas. Mixed media with resin 80 x 30cm £1,250
Cycling infrastructure does not force drivers to break the law, drivers are the reason they break the law, no one else.
Ah but taking pictures of things to defy the man (avoid a fine) is righteous. Taking pictures of people to grass on them to the cops (perhaps...
But getting paid for it is the very definition of professional....
Never had a Shimano QR fail on me. They just work. And the top end ones look good too....
If you're only looking at the guy in front of you then you're going to crash whatever brakes you have, you need to look beyond them to anticipate...
As a woman, this works great for me! My chain broke once, and a kind guy stopped with a chain breaker and sorted it all out for me. We stopped at a...
Same. I also have gone through a bunch of their tyres, and only the extralight disappointed (torn sidewall) but the standards are fantastic....
thanks for the ideas....
Indeed - but it's no more inconsistent than our current road design - very often UK high streets are "for shopping" and also a busy through route....
If you ask the world's leading economic commentators how many people have been rescued from abject poverty by capitalism the average answer would...