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| Why am I Researching Jean Varda? |
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The mission
of the Jean Varda Project is The goal of
the Jean Varda Project is to |
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When the new owners of the SS Vallejo( were Varda lived from 1949
til 1971) felt it was important enough to spend the necessary funds
to restoring the boat 30 years after Varda's death, I wanted to know
why anyone in their right mind would do such a thing? My Father had
assured me this rotting, rusting, 'beyond repair' old vessel could
never be saved. As I delved into the history of the boat, extraordinary
findings began to surface.
The Vallejo is an old-fasioned relic of the high quality 1800s "hand-made" craftsmanship. When the ferrying life of the Vallejo ended in 1946 she pioneered squatting rights in Sausalito as the first 'houseboat'. She became a nexus of East meets West when Alan Watts moved on in 1961 and the Vallejo participated in the 1967 Summer of Love when the SF Oracle held a summit on her with Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg. The boat's tenacity provides a role model for my project. With photos by Paul LeClerc, I began the http:/www.vallejo.to website to document the progress on cleaning the boat and making renovations. I covered the trip to drydock and things came out of the woodwork - literally. Stashed tickets, newspaper clippings from the 1940s, photos, lost objects and bonafied works of art all were hiding in the walls. If only they could speak! It was Varda who talked Gordon Onslow Ford into buying the Vallejo in 1949 just before it was going to be broken up by the shipyard. One story goes that the Vallejo was at Arques' yard down in Marinship and Don caught three guys poking around and possibly scavenging on it. When he asked the three of them what they were doing they replied in the only respectable way they could, "We want to buy it, Sir!" Many people don't know of Varda anymore, and those who do only have a vague idea about Varda as a 'bon vivant' who sailed every weekend with voluptuous, scantily clad maidens and lots of good food and wine. But Varda's story is so much bigger than that. I get to experience the thrill of detective sleuthing when I discover information on him. Like when I first learned Varda was born in Smyra, Greece 1893 but had to move to Alexandria before his teen years because the Turks reclaimed the city. And corroborating the story that Varda danced with the famous Vaslay Nijinsky and the Imperial Russian Ballet in London during 1914-1916 at a time when Ballet was considered 'modern' dance. And that Varda shared a studio in Paris with Braque and knew the Dadaist and Cubists. In 1922 Varda built a studio in Cassis, southern France, with Roland Penrose who became Picasso's dear friend and personal biographer. I get to travel through Big Sur, Monterey, Carmel, etc in search of Varda stories for he moved to the area at the invitation of Lathrop and Helen Hooper Brown who bought 7 of his mosaics at his first show in America, held at the Neumann Willard Gallery in New York in 1939. Lathrop Brown was college roommates with Franklin D. Roosevelt and remained his aid de camp all his life. Varda invited Henry Miller to move to Big Sur in 1944 and Henry stayed with him for several weeks until he found his own place. Varda taught art classes at the Monterey Peninsula College. He also taught at the Seven Arts Center in Carmel where Salvador Dali held court when he traveled through. In Valyermo at Saint Andrew's Abbey Varda started a summer art workshop with mosaist Louis Jenkins that is still going on. They still hold an arts and crafts festival every September. Making the website on Varda and the Vallejo has been like putting down roots. It has become a way to get to know my community. I am meeting organizations and city officials who promote local history. Phil Frank of the Sausalito Historical Society had a studio the 1970s on the Vallejo in the Dancing Girls cabin. Arthur Monroe, a Beat artist now with the Oakland Museum, encourages my progress with emails saying "keep at it!" Julie Warren, an Historic Landmark Commissioner, came by with Muguette Beroud visiting from France, who was old friends with Varda. The San Francisco Maritime Parks and Recreation did an article on the Vallejo in their "Sea Letter" magazine. Chris Hardman of Antenna Theatre has done countless interviews with people regarding Sausalito History and Characters and Annette Rose came by the Vallejo once to help commemorate Varda's Birthday. Varda was a blend of Byzantine Metaphysics and Modernism. His ideas and beliefs hold up today as strongly as they did in his own time. Varda knew many secrets to life. And he shared them. His influence and his art are certainly valuable treasures worth preserving. I've invited you here to introduce you to my project and to solicit your help. I need to make copies of Varda's artwork, make contact with people who knew him, make copies of photos, film, stories, newspaper articles, memories, etc. And if you will tell two people to tell two people… well, maybe that will lead to the right path to find all the important pieces of the Varda puzzle. -Heide Foley |
