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| Artist Graham Ovenden denies abusing young models | Artist Graham Ovenden denies abusing young models |
| (8 days later) | |
| A celebrated artist best known for his candid images of children, often unclothed, has denied in court that he sexually abused any of his young models and passionately defended his right to create such paintings and photographs. | A celebrated artist best known for his candid images of children, often unclothed, has denied in court that he sexually abused any of his young models and passionately defended his right to create such paintings and photographs. |
| Graham Ovenden, 70, whose work has hung in Tate Britain and galleries from Paris and Vienna to Tokyo and Peru, rejected allegations in Truro crown court that he blindfolded girls before forcing them to take part in oral sex or explicit games. | Graham Ovenden, 70, whose work has hung in Tate Britain and galleries from Paris and Vienna to Tokyo and Peru, rejected allegations in Truro crown court that he blindfolded girls before forcing them to take part in oral sex or explicit games. |
| Asked if he found children sexually attractive, Ovenden replied: "No." | Asked if he found children sexually attractive, Ovenden replied: "No." |
| Questioned about why he had described children as "sensual creatures" during a police interview, he said everything from a child to the bark of a tree had sensuality. | Questioned about why he had described children as "sensual creatures" during a police interview, he said everything from a child to the bark of a tree had sensuality. |
| The artist, who works from a rambling estate on the edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, went on the offensive, accusing the prosecution of being "neurotic" about nakedness in children and claiming that he had sent off a file of his own to the attorney general on how Scotland Yard had investigated his case over the years and warning there would be a "reckoning". | The artist, who works from a rambling estate on the edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, went on the offensive, accusing the prosecution of being "neurotic" about nakedness in children and claiming that he had sent off a file of his own to the attorney general on how Scotland Yard had investigated his case over the years and warning there would be a "reckoning". |
| Ovenden, who denies offences of indecency and indecent assault relating to four children – now all adults – between 1972 and 1985, told the court of his own idyllic childhood growing up in Hampshire. The poet John Betjeman was a family friend and by the age of 14 Ovenden said he was a "very serious" painter. After school he went to the Royal College of Art, where he studied under Peter Blake. | Ovenden, who denies offences of indecency and indecent assault relating to four children – now all adults – between 1972 and 1985, told the court of his own idyllic childhood growing up in Hampshire. The poet John Betjeman was a family friend and by the age of 14 Ovenden said he was a "very serious" painter. After school he went to the Royal College of Art, where he studied under Peter Blake. |
| Ovenden said his main interest was English landscapes. But he also took photographs and made paintings of young girls. He told the jury he had created a series based on Nabokov's character Lolita and had worked with Blake on a project around Lewis Carroll's Alice books. | Ovenden said his main interest was English landscapes. But he also took photographs and made paintings of young girls. He told the jury he had created a series based on Nabokov's character Lolita and had worked with Blake on a project around Lewis Carroll's Alice books. |
| The artist, bespectacled and white-bearded, said that in the early 70s he and his wife, Annie, also a talented artist, moved with their two children from west London to a 22-acre estate called Barley Splatt in Cornwall. | The artist, bespectacled and white-bearded, said that in the early 70s he and his wife, Annie, also a talented artist, moved with their two children from west London to a 22-acre estate called Barley Splatt in Cornwall. |
| Ovenden said the estate was "a garden of Eden" with beech woods and a "tumbling" stream often visited by other artists, writers and musicians. | Ovenden said the estate was "a garden of Eden" with beech woods and a "tumbling" stream often visited by other artists, writers and musicians. |
| Families with children stayed there and youngsters tended to discard their clothes "pretty regularly". | Families with children stayed there and youngsters tended to discard their clothes "pretty regularly". |
| He told the jury he took photographs of girls, sometimes clothed, sometimes in Victorian dress and at other times semi- or totally naked. Often these were studies for paintings. | He told the jury he took photographs of girls, sometimes clothed, sometimes in Victorian dress and at other times semi- or totally naked. Often these were studies for paintings. |
| Ovenden said the point of the nude images was to show children in a "state of grace". He claimed he had a "moral obligation" to take such images. The idea of pictures of naked children being obscene was "abhorrent", he said, and criticised what he saw as a "witch-hunt" over them. | Ovenden said the point of the nude images was to show children in a "state of grace". He claimed he had a "moral obligation" to take such images. The idea of pictures of naked children being obscene was "abhorrent", he said, and criticised what he saw as a "witch-hunt" over them. |
| Grabbing the collar of his own jacket he said clothes were a "mask", adding: "What one is is underneath. One of the great qualities of art is to go back to the point of innocence." | Grabbing the collar of his own jacket he said clothes were a "mask", adding: "What one is is underneath. One of the great qualities of art is to go back to the point of innocence." |
| Questioned about an image of a girl on a stool with her legs parted, he said it was the natural way to pose when sitting on such a piece of furniture. | Questioned about an image of a girl on a stool with her legs parted, he said it was the natural way to pose when sitting on such a piece of furniture. |
| Ovenden was asked about another alleged victim whom he had photographed clothed and naked from the age of three to around 11. He denied having once got into a bath with her and asking her to wash his penis. Had he put his thumb or penis into her mouth? "Absolutely not," he replied. Had he taken hold of her breasts? "Certainly not." | Ovenden was asked about another alleged victim whom he had photographed clothed and naked from the age of three to around 11. He denied having once got into a bath with her and asking her to wash his penis. Had he put his thumb or penis into her mouth? "Absolutely not," he replied. Had he taken hold of her breasts? "Certainly not." |
| During cross-examination, the jury was shown explicit images of child sexual abuse that were found by police on a disc and that the artist accepted he had created. Ovenden claimed the images – composites of pictures from pornographic magazines and his own drawings – were made for a project called Through a Glass Darkly that dealt with the corruption of the "state of grace". | During cross-examination, the jury was shown explicit images of child sexual abuse that were found by police on a disc and that the artist accepted he had created. Ovenden claimed the images – composites of pictures from pornographic magazines and his own drawings – were made for a project called Through a Glass Darkly that dealt with the corruption of the "state of grace". |
| Ovenden said he found the images "utterly vile" but that they were the product not of a deviant mind but one that wanted to confront evil in a "clear-eyed" way. | Ovenden said he found the images "utterly vile" but that they were the product not of a deviant mind but one that wanted to confront evil in a "clear-eyed" way. |
| He said the work was not complete and would never have been shown in that form. The police were the first publishers of them, he said. | He said the work was not complete and would never have been shown in that form. The police were the first publishers of them, he said. |
| Prosecutor Ramsay Quaife put it to Ovenden that he was "sexually besotted with young girls". The artist replied that the last image he had created of a girl was 24 years ago. | Prosecutor Ramsay Quaife put it to Ovenden that he was "sexually besotted with young girls". The artist replied that the last image he had created of a girl was 24 years ago. |
| The trial continues. | The trial continues. |
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