Valadon was Utrillo's mother. This is a kind of unbelievable fact of art history (and of course for years, while Utrillo was being celebrated as a great Post-Impressionist painter, his mother was ignored). And their work was so different! Although they both painted French suburban life, they observed it from opposite directions. Here is Valadon's 1921 portrait of her son, it's in Paris at the 

musée Montmartre

An exhibition has just finished in Philadelphia devoted to the amazing Suzanne Valadon (1865-1935) and the Post this week will continue the homage. Fascinatingly,, she began life as an artist's model and her years among painters inspired her to try her hand at painting. She was encouraged by Degas, set up in her own studio by a lover and 'began chronicling her newly suburban home life' (Ariella  Budick in the Financial Times). This is Self Portrait 1927.

The slave trade was 'abolished' in 1807. But then occurred something as shocking as the fact of slavery itselfl: for the next 25 years the slave owners wrangled about compensation and it was not until 1833 that they agreed terms. These were vastly advantageous to them and to those who profited from slavery. The slaves themselves got nothing at all, nowhere to live, no jobs, no income, nothing. 'The British government paid out £20 million – the equivalent of around 17 billion pounds today – to compensate slave owners for the lost capital associated with freeing slaves. This payout was a massive 40% of the government's budget. These obligations to slave owners and institutions were not paid off by the UK government until 2015. 'Britain stood out among European states in its willingness to appease slave owners, and to burden future generations of its citizens with the responsibility of paying for it' here . There is a book by Michael Taylor called The Interest: How the British Establishment resisted the Abolition of Slavery. Cf. also this excellent New Yorker article by Sam Knight inspired by the horribleness of the two kneeling slaves at Dyrham Park near Bath, here. Let's hope these have been quietly removed.

A trip to Liverpool is a must this year – to go to the International Slavery Museum. When you look at this engraving in detail it is particularly horrifying. And one's feelings only worsen when reading the piece here  in History Today from which this image was taken.

Don't be deceived by this fairly charming 1791 painting (by John Raphael Smith called  Slave Trade).  Seventy-five years later (page 289 of Alex Renton's book) 'the stories of the suffering of ordinary black people during martial law in St-Thomas-in-the-East excited less public outrage. But they are horrifying ... Reading the testimony, you are struck by the lack of shame among the perpetrators.' This was in fact in 1865, long after the formal 'abolition' of slavery. 

When one looks at this picture (of slave owners in the Caribbean in the eighteenth century) in the light of the Alex Renton book is becomes increasingly horrifying. What were we thinking, or rather what were our ancestors thinking? More here at the Science Photo Library for those who can bear it.

The book that has moved us most in the last month (we can't say enjoyed, that was Eva Ibbotson's A Countess Below Stairs) is Alex Renton's Blood Legacy, the subject of the Post this week. It's also topical in the light of the wise and calm decision of the Bristol jury in the case of the Colston statue. How can 'we', the descendants of slave traders (because the wealth of places like Bristol and Bath was built upon the about labour of slaves) ever make amends? Or do we just have to try and behave decently by today's standards and tell ourselves that the past is the past? It makes us think of one of our parents, a German refugee, who nevertheless accepted a visiting professorship at Bonn university in the 1950s. Not for him any question of hatred and bearing grudge. No, he tried to start the process of understanding and coming-to-terms (which is different from forgiving and forgetting). So what to do about the fact that every beautiful street in Bath was built with money engendered by the slave trade? This is  

James Graham (1789-1860), Alex Renton’s father's mother's great-grandfather. He had African heritage (perhaps without realising it) but owned two slaves. This was normal. Normalised. So much to think about here.