Sir Alfred Munnings, retiring President of the Royal Academy, chooses the 1949 A
nnual Banquet to launch a savage attack on Modern Art. The effect of his diatrib
e is doubly shocking, leaving not only his distinguished audience gasping but al
so many people tuning in to the BBC's live radio broadcast. But as he approaches
the end of his assault, the speech suddenly dissolves into incoherence when he
stumbles over a name - a name he normally takes such pains to avoid - that takes
him back forty years to a special time and a special place.
Summer in Februa
ry is a disturbing and moving re-creation of a celebrated Edwardian artistic com
munity enjoying the last days of a golden age soon to be shattered by war. As re
sonant and understated as The Go-Between, it is a love story of beauty, deprivat
ion and tragedy.
