Impressionism

Impressionism (pronounced im-presh-uh-niz-uhm)

(1) In fine art (an appropriated by others), a style of painting developed in the late nineteenth century, characterized by short brush strokes of bright colors in immediate juxtaposition to represent the effect of light on objects and a focus on everyday subject matters (by convention usually with an initial capital).

(2) A manner of painting in which the forms, colors, or tones of an object are lightly and rapidly indicated and there’s sometimes an attempt deliberately to include discordant subjects.

(3) In sculpture, a compositional style in which volumes are partially modeled and surfaces roughened to reflect light unevenly.

(4) In poetry, a style which used imagery and symbolism to convey the poet's impressions

(5) In literature, a theory and practice which emphasizes immediate aspects of objects or actions without attention to details.

(6) In musical composition, a movement of the late nineteen and early twentieth centuries (in parallel with the developments in painting) which eschewed traditional harmonies, substituting lush pieces with subtle rhythms, the unusual tonal colors used as evocative devices.

1880–1885: The construct was impression + -ism.  Impression was from the Old French impression, from the Latin impressio, from imprimo (push, thrust, assault, onslaught; squashing; stamping; impression), the construct being in- (the prefix which usually to some extent nullified but here in its rare form as an intensifier) +‎ premō (to press), from the Proto-Italic premō which may be linked with the primitive Indo-European pr-es- (to press), from per- (to push, beat, press).  The –ism suffix was from the Ancient Greek ισμός (ismós) & -isma noun suffixes, often directly, sometimes through the Latin –ismus & isma (from where English picked up ize) and sometimes through the French –isme or the German –ismus, all ultimately from the Ancient Greek (where it tended more specifically to express a finished act or thing done).  It appeared in loanwords from Greek, where it was used to form abstract nouns of action, state, condition or doctrine from verbs and on this model, was used as a productive suffix in the formation of nouns denoting action or practice, state or condition, principles, doctrines, a usage or characteristic, devotion or adherence (criticism; barbarism; Darwinism; despotism; plagiarism; realism; witticism etc).  Impressionism and impressionist are nouns; the noun plural is impressionisms.

The meanings of impressionism are wholly unrelated to impressionistic which is used to describe an opinion reached by means of subjective reactions as opposed to one which was the product of research or deductive reasoning (ie based on impression rather than reason or fact).  As a noun an impressionist is (1) one who in art, music or literature produced work in the tradition of impressionism or (2) an entertainer who performs impressions of others (a mimic).  Although by some used in philosophy since 1839, impressionism really isn’t a recognized field in the discipline, instead used metaphorically (and often critically) to describe certain tendencies which share similarities with the artistic movement.  Those who describe themselves as impressionist philosophers reject the idea that objective knowledge or absolute truths exist and instead stress the importance of individual perception and personal experience, arguing that individual (and debatably collective) understanding of the world is determined only by the wholly subjective: senses and emotions.  They’re thus much concerned with perception, consciousness, and the nature of reality.  In all that there’s obviously some overlap with earlier traditions and mainstream philosophers tend to be dismissive, some suggesting impressionism is less a philosophical school than a mode of which has been explored for millennia.

Le pont du chemin de fer à Argenteuil (The Railroad Bridge in Argenteuil (1873-1874)), oil on canvas by Claude Monet (1840-1926), Musée d’Orsay, Paris).

Impressionism was an art movement that which emerged in France in the late nineteenth century and was a romantic form, the core of which was the capturing of a fleeting moment (ie an impression) in time and place, characterized by the play of light and color, rendered with what gave the impression of loose (even careless) brushwork, the paint often applied in brief, broken strokes.  Breaking from the intricacy and preciseness which had distinguished high art since the renaissance, the artists sought a feeling of spontaneity rather than the staged effect engendered by meticulously rendered details.  The whole idea was to “capture the moment” those transitory scenes one might view thousands of times a day and their subject matter so often were the vistas of everyday light, the apparent casualness of the composition an important psychological aspect because such visions are so often hazy because the mind tends to remember only the part which has captured the eye while in memory the peripheral surroundings are “burred” or even vaguely “filled in” from memory.  The artists wanted to represent the immediate sensory impressions of a particular moment rather than a polished and composition.  Given all this, it’s not surprising the Impressionists so frequently painted en plein air (ie outdoors) because there natural light and breezes made for an ever-changing environment, idea for a technique dedicated capturing the ephemeral.

The Church at Auvers (1890), oil on canvas by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

In the way of such things, from Impressionism, very late in the nineteenth century came post-impressionism.  Deliberately positioned as a reaction against what had come to be regarded as the strictures and limitations of Impressionism, it was noted especially for an expressive and symbolic use of color which neglected and sometimes even abandoned the link with naturalistic representation, the intensity of shade itself a vehicle of an artist’s personal interpretations.  It also distorted form and perspective, the exaggerations wildly beyond anything in the mannerist tradition and the influence upon the cubists who would follow is undeniable.  Something of a preview of post-modernism, the concerns were more with laying bare the underlying structure rather than showing anything directly representational.  However, despite the perceptions of some, technical innovation was rare and even the techniques most associated with the movement had been seen before although famously, the post-impressionists delighted in non-naturalistic color schemes.  While this was something which caught the eye, it again wasn’t exactly new and the claims it somehow created a heightened emotional impact have always seem hard to sustain although they certainly displeased the Nazis who decried paintings “green skies” and “blue dogs”.  Still, the work influenced Fauvism and Cubism and there are critics who maintain post-impressionism was the first discernible epoch in modern art.

The Seine at Courbevoie (1885), oil on canvas by Georges Seurat (1859-1891).

Although post-impressionism can be seen to some extent as something new, the companion neo-impressionism was really a fork.  The alternative name of the movement was Divisionism which hints at the scientific basis which underlay many of the works, most notably pointillism (the use of tiny dots which blended optically when viewed from a distance) which explored the principles of the physics of color and light by rendering paintings almost as a mathematical exercise and one far removed from the spontaneous brushwork of Impressionism.  Color under this regime came to be understood in itself as a theory, the concept of “simultaneous contrast” expressed in the placement of contrasting or complementary colors explored to exploit the way the brain processed the relationship by either “toning down” or making more luminous the visual experience.  The work was thus in the impressionist tradition of using light and color but it was different in that instead of representing an impression of how nature was seen, it deployed a scientific understanding of how the mind perceived and interpreted light and color to produce something which enhanced the effect.  In that sense it’s understood as a structuralist movement.

Separation (1896), oil on canvas by Edvard Munch (1963-1944), Munch Museum, Oslo.

Neo-impressionism should not be confused with Expressionism, a contemporary movement from Germany which some have characterized (not wholly unfairly” as “painting Friedrich Nietzsche’s (1844–1900) nightmares”.  The expressionists sought to convey the subjective emotions, inner experiences and psychological states of the artist; the viewer was there simply to view and understand the feelings of the artist who seem frequently drawn to the darker aspects of human existence.  They used distorted and exaggerated forms, heavy brushwork, and non-naturalistic colors designed expressly to be discordant.  The classic example of Expressionism is Edvard Munch’s The Scream (1893).

Lindsay Lohan (2012), oil on canvas by Lucas Bufi.

Florida-based Lucas Bufi describes himself as “modern Impressionist artist, guided by light and shadows”.  His take on Lindsay Lohan was based on one of the images from a 2011 photo-shoot for the January/February 2012 issue of Playboy magazine which featured her as the cover model.  It can be difficult to determine where impressionism ends and expressionism begins.

Cinque

Cinque (pronounced singk)

(1) In certain games (those using cards, dice, dominoes etc), a card, die, or domino with five spots or pips.

(2) As cinquefoil (1) a potentilla (flower), (2) in heraldry, a stylized flower or leaf with five lobes and (3) in topology, a particular knot of five crossings.

1350–1400: From the Middle English cink, from the Old French cinq (five), from the Vulgar Latin cinque, from the Latin quīnque (five).  The archaic spelling cinq was from the modern French cinq, whereas the standard spelling probably emerged either under the influence of the Italian cinque or was simply a misspelling of the French.  In typically English fashion, the pronunciation “sank” is based on a hypercorrect approximation of the French pronunciation, still heard sometimes among what use to be called “the better classes”.  The alternative forms were cinq (archaic), sinque (obsolete) and sink & sank (both misspellings).  The homophones are cinq, sink, sync & synch (and sank at the best parties); the noun plural is cinques.

Cinque outposts, attested since the 1640s was a term which referred to the five senses.  The noun cinquecento (written sometimes as cinque-cento) is used in (as noun & adjective) criticism & academic works when describing sixteenth century Italian art and literature.  It dates from 1760, from the Italian cinquecento (literally “500”) and was short for mil cinquecento (1500).  The use to describe "a group of five, five units treated as one," especially at cards or dice, dates from the late fourteenth century and in English was borrowed directly from the French cinq, a dissimilation from Latin quinque (five) which in Late Latin also picked up the familiar spelling cinque.  The ultimate root was the primitive Indo-European penkwe (five).

Cinquefoil housing stained glass (leadlight) window.

In architecture, a cinquefoil is a ornament constructed with five cuspidated divisions, the use dating from the late fifteenth century, from the Old French cinqfoil, the construct being cinq (five) + foil (leaf).  The basis for the French form was the quinquefolium, the construct being quinque (five) + folium (leaf), from the primitive Indo-European root bhel- (to thrive, bloom).  In Gothic tracery, there was a wide use of circular shapes featuring a lobe tangent to the inner side of a larger arc or arch, meeting other lobes in points called cusps projecting inwards from the arch and architects defined them by the number of foils used, indicated by the prefix: trefoil (3), quatrefoil (4), cinquefoil (5), multifoil etc.  Although used as stand-alone fixtures, bands of quatrefoils were much used for enrichment during the "Perpendicular Period" (the final phase of English Gothic architecture, dated usually between circa 1350–1550; it followed the "Decorated Style" and was characterized by strong vertical lines, large windows with intricate tracery, and elaborate fan vaulting) and, when placed with the axes set diagonally, quatrefoils were called cross-quarters.

Porsche "phone-dial" wheels, clockwise from top left: 1981 911SC, 1988 924S, 1987 944S & 1985 928S.  With a myriad of variations, the cinquefoil motif was a style for wheels used by a number of manufacturers, the best known of which were the ones with which Porsche equipped the 911, 924, 944 & 928 where they were known as the “phone-dial”, a reference which may puzzle those younger than a certain age.  Because these have five rather than ten holes, they really should have picked up the nickname "cinquefoil" rather than "phone-dial" but the former was presumably too abstract or obscure so the more accessible latter prevailed.

Fiat 500 (2023), watercolor on paper by Monika Jones.  While the artist hasn't provided notes, it's tempting to imagine the inspiration was something like “Lindsay Lohan in white dress during summer in Rome, leaning on Fiat 500, painted in the tradition of Impressionism.”

A classic of the La Dolce Vita era, the rear-engined Fiat 500 was in continuous production between 1957-1975 and was the successor to the pre-war Fiat 500 Topolino, an even more diminutive machine which proved its versatility in roles ranging from race tracks to inner-city streets to operating as support vehicles used by the Italian Army in the invasion of Abyssinia (1935).  Almost 3.9 million of the post-war 500s (dubbed the Nuova Cinquecento (New 500)) were produced and as well as the two-door saloon (almost all fitted with a folding sunroof) there were three-door station wagons (the Giardiniera) & panel vans.  Although not all wore the 500 badge, in the home market, universally Italians called them the Cinquecentro.  There was also the unusual 500 Jolly, a cut down version built by Carrozzeria Ghia which featured wicker seats and a removable fabric roof in the style of the surrey tops once used on horse-drawn carriages.  The Jolly was intended as “beach car”, some carried on the yachts of the rich and although Ghia built only 650 originals, many 500s have since been converted to “Jolly Spec”, one of coach-building’s less-demanding tasks.  Being an Italian car, there were of course high-performance versions, the wildest of which was the Steyr-Puch 650 TR2 (1965-1969) which ran so hot it was necessary to prop open the engine cover while it was in use.  The Nuova 500’s successors never achieved the same success but such was the appeal of the original that in 2007 a retro-themed 500 was released although, al la Volkswagen’s “new Beetles” (1997-2019), the configuration was switched to a water-cooled front-engine with FWD (front-wheel-drive).

1985 Ferrari Testarossa “monospecchio-monodado”.

The early Testarossas were fitted with centre-lock magnesium-alloy wheels, chosen for their lightness.  Responding to feedback from the dealer network, as a running-change during 1988, these were substituted for units with a conventional five-bolt design.  The centre-lock wheels were called monodado (one nut) while the five lug-types were the cinquedado (five nut) and because of the time-line, while all the monospecchio cars are also monodado, only some of the monodaddi are monospecchi.  Monospecchi (literally "one mirror") is an unofficial designation for the early cars fitted with a single external mirror, mounted unusually high on the A-pillar, the location the product of Ferrari's interpretation of the EU's (European Union) rearward visibility regulations.  The Eurocrats later clarified things and Testarossas subsequently were fitted with two mirrors in the usual position at the base of the A-pillar. 

Plastic wheelcover for the Ford (Australia) Fairmont XE (1982-1984, left), a circa 1949 British GPO standard telephone in Bakelite (centre) (globally, the most produced handset in this style was the Model 302, which, with a thermoplastic case, was manufactured in the US by Western Electric between 1937-1955 and plastic wheelcover for the Ford (Australia) Fairmont XF (1984-1988, right).  Telephones with larger dial mechanisms usually didn't use all the available space for the finger-holes.

Probably some are annoyed at the “five-hole” wheel design coming to be known as the “phone-dial” because of course the classic rotary-dial mechanism had ten holes, one for each numeral.  Ford Australia actually stuck to the classics when designing a plastic wheel-cover for the XE Fairmont (then the next rung up in the Falcon's pecking order) because it featured the correct ten holes and it was re-allocated as a “hand-me-down” for the Falcon when the XF was introduced, the Fairmont now getting an eight-hole unit.  None of these seem ever to have been dubbed “phone-dials”, probably because plastic wheel–covers have never been a fetish like the older metal versions or aluminium wheels (often as “rims” in modern usage, a practice which also annoys some).  The XE hubcap may be thought a decemfoil (10 leaf) and the XF unit a octofoil (8 leaf).

1971 Ford (South Africa) XY Fairmont GT with the GS Pack wheel covers.

The South African Fairmont GTs were never fitted with the "five slot" wheels used in Australia, getting instead the chromed wheel cover which in Australia was part of the "GS Pack", a collection of "dress-up" options designed to provide much of the look of a GT without the additional costs to purchase or insure one.  The GS Pack wheel covers were first seen in Australia on the 1967 XR Falcon GT and came from the Mercury parts bin in the US where they'd appeared on the 1966 Mercury Comet Cyclone GT; they were designed to look like a chromed, naked wheel, the idea a tribute to the Californian hot rod community in which the motif originated.

1971 Ford (Australia) XY Falcon GT with “five slot” wheels.

Although scholars of Latin probably haven’t given much thought to the wheels Ford used in the 1960s & 1970s, their guidance would be helpful because the correct Latin form for “slot” depends on context, the words being (1) Fissura: “crack, split or narrow opening”, (2) Rima: “narrow gap or slit”, (3) Foramen: “opening, hole or perforation” and (4) Scissura “cleft or division”.  So a XY GT’s wheel would be a cinquefissura, cinquerima, cinqueforamen or cinquescissura.  The scholars would have to rule but cinquerima seems best, tied in nicely with the modern (albeit contested) use of “rim” to mean wheel.      

In production over six generations between 1965-2008 the Fairmont was a "blinged-up" version of the Australian Ford Falcon (1960-2016), a car based on the US compact (1960-1969) Ford of the same name (the one-off 1970 US Falcon an entry level model in the intermediate Torinio (formerly Fairlane) range).  Ford in the US would also use the Fairmont name for a compact (1978-1983) but the most quirky use was that between 1969-1971, Ford South Africa sold a car substantially similar to the Australian Falcon GT but badged it "Fairmont GT".  Assembled (with some local components) in South Africa from CKD (completely knocked down) packs imported from Australia, the Fairmont name was chosen because US Falcons (assembled from Canadian CKD packs) had been sold in South Africa between 1960-1963 but had gained such a bad reputation (Ford Australia had to do much rectification work after encountering the same fragility) the nameplate was decreed tainted.  In the technical sense, "Fairmont GT" would have been a more accurate name in Australia too because the Falcon GTs were, with the bling, built on the Fairmont assembly line; the choice of "Falcon GT" was just a desire by the marketing team to create a "halo" machine for the mainstream range, something which succeeded to an degree which probably surprised even those ever-optimistic types.  Ford South Africa never offered a Fairmont GTHO to match the Falcon GTHOs produced in Australia to homologate certain combinations of parts for competition.

Lamborghini has used the phone-dial since the first incarnation appeared on the Silhouette in 1976 and it likes it still, left to right: Huranan, Gallardo, Countach, Diablo and Silhouette.  With five "holes", these are true cinquefoils.

Despite being often called a "hubcap", what appeared on the South African Fairmont GTs really was a "wheel cover".  The origin of the hubcap was, fairly obviously, “a cap for hub”, something which dates from the age of horse-drawn carts.  Although they would later become something decorative, hubcaps began as a purely function fitting designed to ensure the hub mechanism was protected from dirt and moisture because removing a wheel when the hub was caked in mud with bolts “rusted on” could be a challenge.  In the twentieth century the practice was carried over to the automobile, initially without much change but as wheels evolved from the wooden-spoked to solid steel (and even in the 1920s some experimented with aluminium), the hubcaps became larger because the securing bolts were more widely spaced.  This meant they became a place to advertise so manufacturers added their name and before long, especially in the US, the humble hubcap evolved into the “wheel-cover”, enveloping the whole circle and they became a styling feature, designs ranging from the elegant to the garishly ornate and some were expensive: in 1984 a set of replacement “wire” wheel covers for a second generation Cadillac Seville (the so-called “bustle-back”, 1980-1985) listed at US$995.00 if ordered as a Cadillac part-number and then that was a lot of money.  By the late 1980s, most wheel covers were plastic pressings, other than in places like the isolated environments behind the Iron Curtain.

Beltless: Lindsay Lohan in 2004 using touch-dial wall-phone, note the hooking of the thumbs in the belt loops.

Remarkably, although touch-dial (ie buttons) handsets appeared in the consumer market as early as 1963 and soon became the standard issue, in 2024 it’s possible still to buy new, rotary-dial phones although only the user experience remains similar; internally the connections are effected with optical technology, the “sound & feel” emulated.  There’s also a market for updating the old Bakelite & Thermoplastic units (now typically between 70-90 years old) with internals compatible with modern telephony so clearly there’s some nostalgia for the retro-look, if not the exact experience.  Even after the touch-dial buttons became ubiquitous the old terminology persisted among users (and in the manufacturers' documents); when making calls users continued to "dial the number".  The same sort of linguistic legacy exists today because ending a call is still the act of "hanging up" and that dates from the very early days of telephony when the ear-piece was a large conical attachment on a cord and at a call's conclusion, it was "hung up" on a arm, the weight of the receiver lowering the arm which physically separated two copper connectors, terminating the link between the callers.  

Ms Justine Haupt with custom rotary-dial cell phone in turquoise.

Ms Justine Haupt (b 1987), an astronomy instrumentation engineer at New York’s Brookhaven National Laboratory went a step further (backwards, or perhaps sideways, some might suggest) and built a rotary-dial cell phone from scratch because of her aversion to what she describes as “smartphone culture and texting”, something to which many will relate.  In what proved a three year project, Ms Haupt used a rotary-dial mechanism from a Trimline telephone (introduced in 1965 and produced by Western Electric, the manufacturing unit of the Bell System), mounted on a case 4 x 3 x 1 inches (100 x 75 x 25 mm) in size with a noticeably protuberant aerial; it used an AT&T prepaid sim card and has a battery-life of some 24-30 hours.  Conforming to the designer’s choices of functionality, it includes two speed-dial buttons, an e-paper display and permits neither texting nor internet access.  

Designer colors: Available in black, white, turquoise, beige and the wonderful Atomic Hotline Red.  The "atomic" in the name is an allusion the hotline's origin in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962) which was all about nuclear weapons.

Although she intended the device as a one-off for her own use, Ms Haupt was surprised at the interest generated and in 2022 began selling a kit (US$170) with which others could build their own, all parts included except the rotary-dial mechanism which would need to be sourced from junk shops and such.  Unlike the larger mechanism on the traditional desk or wall-mounted telephone, the holes in the Trimline’s smaller rotary-dial used the whole circle so the ten-hole layout is symmetrical and thus the same as the XE Fairmont’s wheelcover, something doubtlessly wholly coincidental.  Unfortunately, Ms Haupt encountered many difficulties (bringing to market a device which connects to public telephony networks involves processes of greater complexity than selling mittens and such) but the project remains afoot.

The rough-fruited cinquefoil or sulphur cinquefoil (Potentilla recta).

In botany, the potentila is a genus containing some three-hundred species of annual, biennial and perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the rose (rosaceae) family.  Since the 1540s it’s been referred to as the cinquefoil (also “five fingers” or “silverweeds”), all distinguished by their compound leaves of five leaflets.

The Confederation of Cinque Ports was a group of coastal towns in Kent, Sussex and Essex, the name from the Old French which means literally “five harbors”.  The five were Hastings, Sandwich, Dover, Romney, and Hythe, all on the western shore of the English Channel, where the crossing to the continent is narrowest.  Because of (1) their importance in cross-channel trade and (2) being in the region ,most vulnerable to invasion, they were granted special privileges and concessions by the Crown in exchange for providing certain services essential for maritime defense, dating from the years prior to the formation of the Royal Navy in the fifteenth century.  The name was first used in the late twelfth century in Anglo-Latin and the late thirteenth in English.

An early version of a PPP (public-private partnership), with no permanent navy to defend it from sea-borne aggression, the crown contracted with the confederation to provide what was essentially a naval reserve to be mobilized when needed. Earlier, Edward the Confessor (circa 1003–1066; King of England 1042-1066) had contracted the five most important strategically vital Channel ports of that era to provide ships and men “for the service of the monarch” and although this was used most frequently as a “cross-Channel ferry service” and was not exclusively at the disposal of the government.  Under the Norman kings, the institution assumed the purpose of providing the communications and logistical connections essential to keeping together the two halves of the realm but after the loss of Normandy in 1205, their ships and ports suddenly became England’s first line of defense against the French.  The earliest charter still extant dates from 1278 but a royal charter of 1155 charged the ports with the corporate duty to maintain in readiness fifty-seven ships, each to be available each year for fifteen days in the service of the king, each port fulfilling a proportion of the whole duty.  In return the ports and towns received a number of tax breaks and privileges including: An exemption from tax and tolls, limited autonomy, the permission to levy tolls, certain law enforcement and judicial rights, possession of lost goods that remain unclaimed after a year and of flotsam (floating wreckage and such) & jetsam (goods thrown overboard).  Even at the time this was thought to be a good deal and the leeway afforded to the Cinque Ports and the substantial absence of supervision from London led inevitability to smuggling and corruption although in this the Cinque Ports were hardly unique.

The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports was something like a viceroy and the office still exists today but is now purely ceremonial and, although technically relict, remains a sinecure and an honorary title, regarded as one of the higher honors bestowed by the Sovereign and a sign of special approval by the establishment which includes the entitlement to the second oldest coat of arms of England.  The prestige it confers on the holder is derived from (1) it being the gift of the sovereign, (2) it being England’s most ancient military honor and (3), the illustrious standing of at least some of the previous hundred and fifty-eight holders of the office.  It is a lifetime appointment.

William Lygon (1872-1938), seventh Earl Beauchamp, in uniform as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.

The office of lord warden has not been without the whiff of scandal.  William Lygon, who in 1891 succeeded his father as the seventh Earl Beauchamp, was at twenty-seven appointed governor of New South Wales, a place to which he would later return, happily and otherwise.  In 1913, Lord Beauchamp, well-connected in society and the ruling Liberal Party’s leader in the House of Lords, was appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and, fond of pomp, ceremony and dressing-up, he enjoyed the undemanding role.  However, in 1930, he embarked on a round-the-world tour which included a two-month stint in Sydney, where he stayed, accompanied by a young valet who lived with him as his lover.  This, along with other antics, did not go unnoticed, and the Australian Star newspaper duly reported:

“The most striking feature of the vice-regal ménage is the youthfulness of its members … rosy cheeked footmen, clad in liveries of fawn, heavily ornamented in silver and red brocade, with many lanyards of the same hanging in festoons from their broad shoulders, [who] stood in the doorway, and bowed as we passed in … Lord Beauchamp deserves great credit for his taste in footmen.”

The report found its way to London when Beauchamp’s brother-in-law, the second Duke of Westminster (1879–1953), hired detectives to gather evidence, hoping to destroy him and damage the Liberal Party, the Tory duke hating both.  Evidence proved abundant and not hard to find so in 1931 Westminster publicly denounced Beauchamp as a homosexual to the king (George V 1865–1936; King of the United Kingdom & Emperor of India 1910-1936), who was appalled and responded that he “…thought men like that always shot themselves.”  Westminster insisted a warrant be issued for Beauchamp’s arrest and that forced him into exile.

Lady Beauchamp seems to have shown some confusion upon being informed of her husband’s conduct.  Although he had enjoyed many liaisons in their (admittedly large) residences (his partners including servants, socialites & local fishermen) and his proclivities were an open secret known to many in society, his wife remained oblivious and expressed some confusion about what homosexuality was.  Leading a sheltered existence, Lady Beauchamp had never been told about the mechanics of "the abominable crime of buggery" and baffled, thought her husband was being accused of being a bugler.  Once things were clarified she petitioned for divorce, the papers describing the respondent as:

“A man of perverted sexual practices, [who] has committed acts of gross indecency with male servants and other male persons and has been guilty of sodomy … throughout the married life … the respondent habitually committed acts of gross indecency with certain of his male servants.”

Beauchamp decamped first to Germany which would once have seemed a prudent choice because, although homosexual acts between men had been illegal since the unification of Germany in 1871, under the Weimar Republic (1918-1933), enforcement was rare and a gay culture flourished blatantly in the larger German cities, the Berlin scene famous even then, the writer Christopher Isherwood (1904–1986) describing things memorably although it wasn't until his diaries were later published one fully could "read between the lines".  After the Nazis gained power in 1933, things changed and Beauchamp contemplated satisfying George V’s assumption but was dissuaded, instead spending his time between Paris, Venice, Sydney and San Francisco, then four of the more tolerant cities and certainly places where wealthy gay men usually could bribe their way out of any legal unpleasantness.

Sir Robert Menzies in uniform.

Sir Robert Menzies (1894–1978; prime-minister of Australia 1939-1941 & 1949-1966) was one of the more improbable appointments as lord warden.  In the office (1965-1978), he replaced Sir Winston Churchill (1875-1965; UK prime-minister 1940-1945 & 1951-1955) on whom the hardly onerous duties had been imposed in 1941.  The old soldier Churchill had spent a lifetime appearing in military uniforms and wore it well but the very civilian Menzies looked something like one of the comic characters from Gilbert & Sullivan.  That he was made lord warden rather than being granted a peerage was emblematic of the changing relationship between the UK and Australia.

After the death of George V, the warrant for Beauchamp’s arrest was lifted and, in July 1937, he returned to England.  What did come as a surprise to many was that soon after his arrival, invitations were issued for a Beauchamp ball, ostensibly a coming-of-age celebration for Richard Lygon (1916-1970; the youngest son) but universally regarded as an attempt at a social resurrection.  In a sign of the times, much of London society did attend although there were those who declined and made it known why.  Still, it seems to have appeared a most respectable and even successful event, Henry "Chips" Channon (1897-1958) noting in his diary it was a bit dull, the “only amusing moment when Lord Beauchamp escorted… a negress cabaret singer into supper.  People were cynically amused but I was not surprised, knowing of his secret activities in Harlem.  It is never a long step from homosexuality to black ladies.”  Lord Beauchamp didn’t long enjoy his return to society, dying within a year of the ball but the vicissitudes of his life were helpful to Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) when writing Brideshead Revisited (1945), the character of Lord Marchmain based on Beauchamp himself while the ill-fated Sebastian Flyte was inspired by Beauchamp’s son Hugh (1904-1936) who shared and (with some enthusiasm) pursued some of his father’s interests.  Despite it all, an appointment as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is for life and Lord Beauchamp remained in office until his death.

Fiat

Fiat (pronounced fee-aht, fee-at, fahy-uht or fahy-at)

(1) An authoritative decree, sanction, or order.

(2) A fixed form of words containing the word fiat, by which a person in authority gives sanction, or authorization; official sanction; authoritative permission.

(3) An arbitrary decree or pronouncement, especially by a person or group of persons having absolute authority to enforce it.

(4) As FIAT, the acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (originally Italian Automobiles Factory, Turin, now Fiat Automobiles SpA and part of FCA (the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles conglomerate).  The companion initialism (as derogatory slang) in certain places (as an allusion to perceptions of unreliability) was “fix it again Tony”.

(5) In the law of England and some Commonwealth countries, an authority for certain actions issued by the Lord Chancellor (England) or the attorney-general (elsewhere).

(6) In the law of England, a warrant issued by a judge for certain purposes.

(7) As fiat currency, a government-issued currency backed not by the possession of a physical commodity (typically gold) but inherently by the issuing government (also called fiat money).

1625–1635: From the Latin fiat (literally “let it be done”, the third singular present subjunctive of fierī (be done, become, come into existence).  The original meaning was "authoritative sanction", fiat thus understood as it was used in the preamble of Medieval Latin proclamations and commands.  The Latin fierī was from the primitive Indo-European root bheue- (to be, exist, grow), used as passive of facere (to make, do).  The meaning "a decree, command, order" became formalized circa 1750 and remains in the legal vocabulary of English (and of some Commonwealth countries) law to this day.  Fiat is the third-person singular, fiats the simple present, fiating the present participle and fiated the simple past and past participle.  The noun plural is fiats.  In the transitive, it’s used in academic debate and in role-playing games although use is now less frequent.

It’s also sometimes is a reference to fiat lux (the famous “let there be light") in the biblical Book of Genesis.  In the Latin Vulgate Bible, the Hebrew phrase יְהִי אוֹר‎ (let there be light) is translated in Latin as fiat lux, the relevant scriptural passage (Genesis 1:3 in the Torah (the first part of the Hebrew Bible)) being dixitque Deus fiat lux et facta est lux (And said God let there be light, and there was light) although Fiat lux would actually translate literally as "let light be made" (fiat the third person singular present passive subjunctive form of the verb facio, meaning "to do" or "to make").  Fashions of form and conventions of use in language do however change and translators adjust their work to render sentences in a form familiar to the audiences of the day: The Douay–Rheims Bible (an English translation from the Vulgate made by members of the English College, Douai, under a commission from the Catholic Church and first published in 1858 in Reims, France) translated the phrase as "Be light made. And light was made."  In translations from the Old Testament, the Greek was usually γενηθήτω φῶς (genēthḗtō phôs) and the Latin fiat lux and lux sit.

Although the words authorization, directive, ruling, mandate, diktat, ukase, command, decree, dictate, dictum, edict, endorsement, mandate, ordinance, permission, precept, sanction & warrant often (in practical application and effect) overlap with fiat, fiat retains at law a precise technical meaning.  While there are variations, the power of an attorney-general in the Australian states to issue a fiat is broadly indicative of the scope (where it exists) in the English-speaking world (although in England all or some of these powers may instead be discharged by the Lord Chancellor).  Essentially, an attorney-general will grant a fiat if it is held to be in the public interest or for the efficient administration of justice.  In order to participate in a legal proceeding, a person must have "standing" which means their legal rights or interests have been or will be adversely affected by the conduct of another party.   If a person lacks standing, they can request the attorney-general to grant a fiat, or consent to bring the action in the AG's name, a practice sometimes called a "relator action".  An attorney-general has a personal discretion in the matter of fiats but will tend to consent to an issue only if things involve the enforcement or protection of a public right or interest.  What constitutes the public interest is a matter for the attorney and there are no circumstances in which they're obliged to grant a fiat but some jurisdictions require the reasons for a refusal to be provided in writing and tabled in parliament and provision for judicial review is sometimes possible.

FIAT (Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino)

Since 2021, the Italian car manufacturer FIAT has been a subsidiary of the Stellantis conglomerate, through its Italian division, Stellantis Europe.  In business since 1899, sometime in the late twentieth century, FIAT lost its way, essentially because of the need to respond to the challenge of the much-improved Japanese cars which, even if their dynamic qualities were uninspiring, offered very competitive pricing, reliability, superb build-quality, responsive dealer networks and high levels of standard equipment.  FIAT’s response was the same as that of many others which hadn’t expected the rapidity of improvement from the manufacturers of the far-east: they tried to produce “Japanese” cars only to find out the Nipponese were better at it and in the years since have never really recovered the spirit which for decades, once made even modest, low-priced FIATs genuinely exciting cars which sometimes were a joy to look at and often a pleasure to drive.

Some notable Fiats

Fiat 850 Spider (1965-1973).

Between 1964-1973 (although the commercial derivative, the 850 Familiare would last until 1976), Fiat produced a range of 850s, all rear-engined (which seemed at the time a good idea).  Most were utilitarian family cars or stubby coupés but most memorable were the 850 Spiders, exquisite little roadsters designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro (b 1938) while at Carrozzeria Bertone.  The lovely lines were uncluttered and the restraint extended to the engineering, resulting in a light, aerodynamic body which permitted the engine, although a modest 843 cm³ (51.44 cubic inch), busily to deliver surprising sprightly performance.  Notably too, in a masterpiece of design which eluded generation of English manufacturers, the convertible top folded effortlessly in a one-handed operation and tucked neatly away under a metal lid.

In 1968, except for the US market, the engine was enlarged to 903 cm³ (55.10 cubic inch) which sounds slight but in percentage terms was about the same increase Chevrolet during the same era performed on their small-block (327 (5.3 litre) to 350 cubic inch (5.7 litre)) & big-block (396 (6.5) to 427 (7.0)) V8s so the effect was noticeable, torque and top speed both benefiting (a little) and despite the bump in displacement, instead of being re-named to 900, the new model was instead called the 850 Sport.  US buyers got an engine with a slightly smaller bore, reducing the displacement to 817 cm³ (49.9 cubic inch), a quick and (literally) dirty solution to the new emission-control rules in that the regulations weren't imposed on engines smaller than 50 cubic inches.  Adding insult to injury, the US lighting laws forced Fiat to replace the elegant faired-in headlamps with rather ungainly sealed-beam units, a fate also suffered by machines as diverse as the Jaguar E-Type (XKE), Porsche 911 & 1912 and the Volkswagen Types 1 (Beetle) & 2 (Kombi, Microbus and such).  Between 1965-1973, 125,010 were built, 87,360 of which were sold in the US and the few survivors (rust was quite an issue) are a collectable, collectors attracted especially to the limited-production variations, the rare, highly-tuned Abarth version the most coveted.

Fiat 500 (2023), watercolor on paper by Monika Jones.  While the artist hasn't provided notes, it's tempting to imagine the inspiration was something like “Lindsay Lohan in white dress during summer in Rome, leaning on Fiat 500, painted in the tradition of Impressionism.”

A classic of the La Dolce Vita era, the rear-engined Fiat 500 was in continuous production between 1957-1975 and was the successor to the pre-war Fiat 500 Topolino, an even more diminutive machine which proved its versatility in roles ranging from race tracks to inner-city streets to operating as support vehicles used by the Italian Army in the invasion of Abyssinia (1935).  Almost 3.9 million of the post-war 500s (dubbed the Nuova Cinquecento (New 500)) were produced and as well as the two-door saloon (almost all fitted with a folding sunroof) there were three-door station wagons (the Giardiniera) & panel vans.  Although not all wore the 500 badge, in the home market, universally Italians called them the Cinquecentro.  There was also the unusual 500 Jolly, a cut down version built by Carrozzeria Ghia which featured wicker seats and a removable fabric roof in the style of the surrey tops once used on horse-drawn carriages.  The Jolly was intended as “beach car”, some carried on the yachts of the rich and although Ghia built only 650 originals, many 500s have since been converted to “Jolly Spec”, one of coach-building’s less-demanding tasks.  Being an Italian car, there were of course high-performance versions, the wildest of which was the Steyr-Puch 650 TR2 (1965-1969) which ran so hot it was necessary to prop open the engine cover while it was in use.  The Nuova 500’s successors never achieved the same success but such was the appeal of the original that in 2007 a retro-themed 500 was released although, al la Volkswagen’s “new Beetles” (1997-2019), the configuration was switched to a water-cooled front-engine with FWD (front-wheel-drive).

Fiat 130 Sedan (1969-1976).  Only four of the estates were made, the design undertaken in-house but construction was handled by Officina Introzzi (1960-1996), a coach-building house in Lombardy’s Como province with much experience in creating “long-roof” (station wagons, hearses, ambulances and such) versions of sedans and the 130 wagon was dubbed Familiare (Family).  The 130's rectilinear roofline meant the conversion was most accomplished, avoiding the ungainly lines which resulted when sedans with a sloping upper structure (notably the Rover P5 and Jaguar XJ) were given the treatment.

Had the Fiat 130 been sold badged as a Lancia or even (with a V8 engine) as a Ferrari (both marques at the time owned by FIAT), it might now be remembered as a great success rather than a failure.  It’s debatable whether brand-name consciousness was any less then than now but perceptions certainly counted against the 130 which moved FIAT suddenly into the upper middle-class market where not only were Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar-Daimler long dominant but the newer, bigger BMWs were also becoming established, building on the successes enjoyed by their smaller models.  Some at the time criticized the styling of the sedan, suggesting it showed little more imagination than increasing the dimensions of the company’s smaller, three-box designs but this was after all exactly the approach of Mercedes-Benz and the 130 was a well-executed, balanced shape with an interior which displayed true Italian flair, offering something more modern than the leather & walnut of the Jaguar or the austere functionality of the German competition.  However, as a driving experience, the 130 was very much in line with the smaller Fiat sedans, demanding involvement from the driver to extract the most from the 2.9 litre (175 cubic inch) V6 but rewarding with fine handling and high levels of adhesion though ultimately not the refinement and effortlessness to which Jaguar and Mercedes drivers had become accustomed.  Not even increasing the engine capacity to 3.2 litres (197 cubic inch) helped sales and when production ending in 1976, only 15,089 had been built, Mercedes-Benz in the same time having produced 243,234 of their comparable (six cylinder) W114 sedans (230.6, 250, 280 & 280E).

Fiat 130 coupé (top), 130 Maremma (centre) and 130 Opera (bottom).  For years the orthodoxy was the Maremma & Opera were were both one-offs but the Italian Fiat Club claims Pininfarina built three of the shooting brakes (one in the Pininfarina museum, one now in the possession of the president of the Lancia Club (fitting given that all 130s should have been sold as Lancias) and one yet to be found.

If the avant-garde had thought the appearance of the 130 sedan underwhelming, few were less than effusive in praising the coupé when first it was displayed in 1971.  Styled by Paolo Martin (b 1943) of Carrozzeria Pininfarina , it makes an interesting contrast with the Citroën SM (1970-1975) on which barely a straight-line could be found and the 130’s knife-edged lines so defined the European rectilinear motif that no manufacturer has since attempted to push the envelope further.  In Europe, like the sedan, it was available with a five-speed manual gearbox which really suited the characteristics of the high-revving V6 but in most exports markets it was offered only with an uninspiring three-speed automatic, resulting in performance which, while not exactly anemic, was lethargic by comparison. Again, the badge meant that sales suffered but Pininfarina saw the possibilities offered by the severe lines and fabricated two prototypes, the Maremma (a two-door shooting brake) in 1974 and the four-door Opera the following year.  Both were much admired but FIAT, disappointed and financially chastened by what would be their last foray into the (European) large-car market, had already decided to abandon the segment and neither project proceeded.  When production of the 130 coupé ended in 1977, only 4,498 had been made.

1973 Fiat 124 Sport Coupé (1967-1975).

The versatile platform on which FIAT built the 124 sedan (1966-1974) is now probably best recognized as the remarkable Russian-made Lada VAZ-21xx (Zhiguli in the home market but often known by the nickname Kopeyka) which in modified but substantially original form remained in production until 2012 (lasting ever longer in the license-built versions produced in Egypt).  However, FIAT also leveraged the platform even before selling designs and tooling to the USSR, in 1967 producing the stylish Fiat 124 Sport Coupé on a shortened wheelbase but otherwise using most of the sedan's mechanical and structural components.  Sold over three generations with three engine displacements (1438 cm³ (88 cubic inch), 1608 cm³ (98 cubic inch) & 1756 cm³ (107 cubic inch), it was an immediate hit in both home and export markets, and worldwide, often in short supply, sales constrained only by FIAT’s inability to increase production.  One quirk was the 1592 cm³ (97 cubic inch) version produced for the home market to take advantage of tax regulations, a regime which also produced oddities such as the two litre (122 cubic inch) Lamborghini & Ferrari V8s.  Over 285,000 had been built when in 1975, production ended and another 24,000 odd were built under licence by the Spanish manufacturer SEAT between 1970 and 1975.

Fiat 124 Sport Spider.

Long lived though the 124 coupé was, the 124 roadster lasted another decade, produced by FIAT until 1982 and then by Pininfarina as a separate line until 1985.  The 124 Sport Spider used the same mechanical components as the coupé although in 1979, a two litre version of the familiar twin-cam four was made available, eventually gaining fuel-injection and a turbocharger although the most powerful of all was the Volumex, a supercharged model which for reasons of compatibility reverted to carburetors; it was sold only in Europe, there being no prospect of engineering the induction system to conform with US emission rules.  Despite being available only in left-hand drive, over 200,000 124 spiders were made in the two decades it was produced and, perhaps improbably, the roadster also enjoyed an illustrious career in competition, Abarth in 1971 co-operating with FIAT in homologating it in the FIA’s Group 4 for entry into the World Rally Championship where it proved competitive, winning the 1972 European Rally Championship despite competing against more obviously credentialed machinery.  The experience gained proved useful when the factory later embarked on more serious campaigns using the Lancia Stratos and the Fiat-Abarth 131.

Fiat G.55 Centauro (Centaur) (1943-1948).

The Fiat G.55 Centauro was a single-engine, single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Regia Aeronautica (though not in combat) and the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana between 1943–1945.  Acknowledged by both sides as the best Italian fighter produced during the war, it was in some aspects as good as most competitive types of the era, only the very last of the Allied fighters demonstrably superior.  It was an extensively re-designed development of the earlier G.50 Freccia, distinguished by a highly efficient wing, a more slender fuselage, heavier armament and the use of the much more powerful Daimler-Benz 605A V12 engine or the FIAT-built RA 1050 equivalent.  Manufacture began early in 1943 but it wasn’t until shortly before Italy’s capitulation in September 1943 that the first planes were delivered to operational squadrons, too late to be deployed in combat.  Instead, it entered service with the pro-Nazi Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana, partly equipping six fighter groups operating with Luftwaffe units defending the skies of northern Italy.  Fewer than 300 had been completed by the end of hostilities in 1945 but the quality of the airframe was noted and production resumed in 1946, almost all of which were exported, used by the military in Argentina, Egypt and Syria.  Demand continued however and, once stocks of the now out-of-production Daimler-Benz and Fiat engines were exhausted, the front sub-frames were re-designed to use the Rolls-Royce Merlin V12; in this form production continued in 1948 as the G.59.

Fiat 127 (1971-1983).

Replacing the rear-engined 850s, the 127, along with the Peugeot 104 and Renault 5 set the template for what would be called the European “supermini” class, the design imperatives of which would last for three decades, the influences seen still today.  What however distinguished the Fiat 127 from the French (and soon the Japanese) competition was its Italian flair, the driving experience genuinely involving though admittedly at the expense of NVH (noise, vibration & harshness) to which others paid more attention but Italian drivers probably didn’t object, enjoying pushing the little (903 cm³ (55.10 cubic inch)) engine to the redline with one hand on the stubby gear lever, the other hovering close to the horn button.  One magazine tested a 127 and called it "the .9 litre Ferrari" which was hyperbolic but made the point the thing was fun (if a little raucous) to drive.  Like the 124, the 127’s platform also had a long life even after Fiat ceased production in 1983, made in Spain for another year and in South America until 1996.  Ominously too, the 127 was the basis for some of the Yugos, the Jugoslav-built cars which feature so frequently on lists like “the ten worst cars ever built”.

Fiat Dino (1966-1973) Coupé (left) and Spider (right).

The Fiat Dino (Type 135) was from a happy era when manufacturers built road cars with racing car engines so a sufficient number would exist to homologate them for use in competition.  In what was at the time a novel arrangement (and similar to the later agreement between Volkswagen and Porsche for the 914), the all aluminum 2.0 litre (122 cubic inch) V6 would be used in the front-engined Fiat Dinos and Ferrari’s mid-engined Dino (1967-1974).  It was the Dino spider which Fiat first displayed, the coupé released a few months later and the Dino 206 (made by Ferrari), some weeks later still.  In 1969, Ferrari and Fiat almost simultaneously announced revised Dinos, the engine now with an iron block and enlarged to 2.4 litres (146 cubic inch), the configuration and tune more suited to use on the road, the highly-strung two litre version most at home at high revs on a race track.  Now named the Fiat Dino 2400, it also gained an independent rear suspension, revised gearing and upgraded brakes.  The Fiat Dinos were always expensive and very much a niche product so production was accordingly low: 6225 coupés and 1583 spiders, most being the earlier, two litre versions.  Interestingly, the pattern was reversed at Ferrari which, having made only 152 Dino 206 GTs, entered almost mass-production when the more manageable 2.4 liter Dino 246 GT was released, 3569 being sold, 1274 as the 246 GTS with a (Porsche targa style) removable roof-panel.

Fiat 8V (1952-1954).

The Fiat 8V (Otto Vu) was powered by a 2.0 litre (122 cubic inch) V8 intended originally for a luxury car but when that project was cancelled, the power-plant became available for re-deployment, the curious name 8V adopted, according to industry legend, because FIAT’s in-house legal department became convinced Ford held a world-wide trademark to “V8”.  Displayed first at the 1952 Geneva Motor Show, the car generated great publicity for the company but few sales and apparently little or no profit as it shared few parts with other Fiats although production costs were reduced somewhat by most of the 8Vs being supplied only as a rolling chassis, external coach-builders being contracted by customers to fabricate the bodywork, Zagato, Ghia, and Vignale all building their own versions although the factory’s experimental division did make one fibreglass body, FIAT’s first ever use of the composite material.  Most were coupés although a handful of roadsters were also made and eventually 114 were built, 34 of which were bodied by FIAT’s Dipartimento Carrozzerie Derivate e Speciali (Special Bodies Department).  Being light, powerful and by the standards of the time, apparently aerodynamic, they enjoyed some success in competition, over 200 km/h (120 mph) attainable in racing trim and the 8V gained a class wins at the 1955 Targa Florio and the 1957 Mille Miglia, taking the 1956 Italian Sports Car Championship in the two litre class.  The 8V remains a genuine one-off, the only Fiat ever fitted with a V8 engine.