Salisbury Museum, till October 3, 2021

An exhibition devoted to the work of the trompe l’oeil artist associated with the later Ian Fleming 007 novels.

It’s well worth a trip to Salisbury for spy fans – not just to follow in the footsteps of the FSB operatives (allegedly!) to see the world-famous 123 metre tall spire. At the local museum, in addition to a fascinating set of galleries covering local finds, there’s currently a great display of work devoted to Richard Chopping.

There’s far more to Chopping than just the Bond covers he did From Russia, With Love onwards – as the first room demonstrates, he had an incredible eye for detail in nature, and at the same time a gift for the grotesque. Original pictures, and some of the children’s books with which he was involved are on show. Similarly the last room is devoted to his writing and other non-Bond work, including his original novels such as The Fly (the level of detail in the painting is phenomenal). Chopping was gay at a time when homosexual acts were illegal, and his own writing opens the window on the lifestyle in the 1960s – The Ring is described on its own flyleaf as not for the faint  of heart.

But most will be drawn to the central gallery, which contains Chopping’s 007 work. Chopping himself tired of the connection – in 2003, he sold his last signed copy noting, “Mr Fleming was not a nice man to work for. He was mean. I have been swindled all along the line” – but for fans, it’s fascinating to see the drafts that went into the creation of the covers.

Along one wall are copies of the books (including the Goldfinger interior cloth cover with the gold coins), and around and in cases are the various early versions. The hand drawn for OHMSS had as much attention given to it  as the flies, guns and other accoutrements, and there’s an early draft of John Gardner’s Licence Renewed, which would suggest that at one point the plan was to market these as by Ian Fleming.

In various places Chopping has made notes, probably after conversations with Fleming, about the requirements for the books, and there’s a handwritten sheet of memories about the novels – particularly cutting about the first four covers (“the wife of a director”) and Doctor No.

 

Verdict: Well worth the trip, this is a chance to see the level of detail that went into some of the finest Bond art there’s been. 9/10

Paul Simpson 

(Photos by Nick Joy)