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In the early 1920's, immaculate gentleman, Jacques Doucet descends
into the world of anarchist art, the occult and the dark turmoil of
his past - involving the death of his beloved Madame R. A
disastrous journey leads the couturier and patron of the arts to
confront the celebrated bohemians of the city, including Max Jacob,
Andre Breton and Picasso. When troubled Doucet acquires the world's
most dangerous painting, it causes him to hack at the root of
Picasso's darkest secrets, unveiling modern art's incredible
genesis.
2019 marks the golden anniversary of the mass musical gatherings
that saw the hippie generation at their 1969 zenith. Two events
stand out, staged within days of each other that magical August: in
the United States, there was Woodstock, and in the UK the Isle of
Wight Festival of Music. Woodstock drew 400,000 fans and a quality
bill that was a Who's Who of contemporary talent - all bar the main
man the organisers hoped to lure on the doorstep of his home, Bob
Dylan. Instead, Dylan opted to headline at the Isle of Wight, in
front of close to 200,000 adoring fans. Here Bill Bradshaw
celebrates the events of that summer 50 years on... and how the
Isle of Wight, off England's southern coast, staged what was then
the nation's biggest festival - and how it pulled off such a huge
coup. Eye-witness accounts from fans, artists and the promoters
bring alive that gilded summer and how it influenced both Dylan and
the rock festival movement for generations to come.
For a time, the Isle of Wight Festivals transformed a sleepy
English island into the rock'n'roll capital of the world. From
promoting a one-nighter in 1968, to raise funds for a local
swimming pool, the young Foulk brothers were able to out-perform
Woodstock, by signing the world-exclusive appearance of rock's poet
laureate, Bob Dylan. The de facto leader of the counterculture had
been hidden away in the artist-town of Woodstock, rarely seen after
a motor cycle accident three years earlier. He turned his back on
the eponymous festival, put there to persuade him to come out and
play, but Dylan left for Europe on the day their event began. For
the Foulk brothers - lacking experience, resources and time - the
coup and ensuing public response was almost overwhelming, but with
audacious bravado and steely determination they delivered the most
awaited event of the era. Devotees from hippies to celebrities
flocked to the Island from mainland Britain, Europe, the Americas
and as far away as Australia. As well as changing the lives of Ray
and his brothers the phenomenon played its part in a highly
transformative period for Bob Dylan, in which the Isle of Wight
remained his one and only full concert appearance in
seven-and-a-half years.
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