I learned something today about one of the buildings on the cover of David Bowie's "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars". (1/7)
In the Tate's archive gallery in the basement of of Tate Britain, there are a couple of exhibits from a notorious bohemian night spot called the Cabaret Theatre Club or The Cave of the Golden Calf. (2/7)
The Cave of the Golden Calf was set up in 1912 by Frida Strindberg as a centre for European-style avant garde in London. Note the address: 3 Heddon Street. (3/7)
In fact the night club, which was closed in 1914, spread across the basement of 3-9 Heddon Street. The Tate also has in its collection this: "Study for a Mural Decoration for the Cave of the Golden Calf by Spencer Gore". (4/7)
Another contributor to the decor of The Cave of the Golden Calf was Wyndham Lewis, founder of the Vorticist movement. Two paintings by Lewis were included in Sotheby's sale of artworks owned by Bowie in 2016. (5/7)
And Bowie included "Blast", the Vorticist magazine edited by Lewis, in a list of his 100 favourite books in 2013. (6/7)
Anyway, that's the building, on the cover of Bowie's breakthrough album. The photograph was taken by Brian Ward, whose studio was nearby. Even if he didn't know about the connection to pre-First World War avant garde, Bowie would surely have loved the connection. (7/7)
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