1

THE KITCHEN
Strikingly, the kitchen is not equipped in the slightest for cooking or preparing any
refreshments other than tea, which Helen relished. Tea pots, cups, cosies and tins
are arranged throughout the room. Among the British brand names displayed on
tea tins she kept are Mazawattee and Horniman’s, which are sold to this day, and
the discontinued Blue Cross, a collector’s item today. An imposing object that
immediately catches the eye is a very sinister monkey-like head attached to the
top of a tea cosy. A large fish, a number of owls and little cement figures with
outstretched arms, used as candle holders, adorn the room.
On the ceiling is painted a huge version of the many sun faces inspired by the
Sunbeam floor polish tin. Malgas later said it was the artwork he was most proud
of creating. He had to lie on his back on scaffolding, similarly to Michelangelo
painting the Sistine Chapel, to complete the work.
Red, a primal colour and among the first humans utilised in art, dominates the
room. The colour of fire and blood, it is one of the most symbolically potent of
all, associated with everything from man’s mastery of fire to Christ’s sacrifice and
political revolution.
Hung next to the recess where the stove should be is a reproduction of The Penitent
Magdalene by 18th century Italian painter Pompeo Batoni. Helen’s version appears
to be a coloured print of an 1839 lithograph by German artist Franz Hanfstaengl.
The original painting was destroyed during an Allied bombing of Dresden in 1945.
A topic covered by many masters, often including a skull to represent the necessity
of repentance (memento mori) and an open prayer book, it shows a meditative
Mary Magdalene. According to Catholic tradition, she was a woman of ill repute
who became a follower of Jesus.
84 FOR THE LOVE OF LIGHT
FOR THE LOVE OF LIGHT 85