1907 b. August 6th. of American and Scots parentage. His Mother was the illiegitimate daughter of Edward VII when Prince of Wales. English Millionaire Poet and Art Patron. Educated Eton and Oxford.
==1930's== ==1940's== ==1950's and later
==1920's==
1922 awarded Gunther Memorial Prize in Art by Roger Fry ->. 1926 Publishes his first book through Shakespeare Head Press. At Oxford he finances and edits the student publication Cherwell ->. 1928 becomes infatuated with Tilly Losch. See wiki ~>. ==1930's== 1930 m. Tilly Losch (see [[, an Austrian dancer choreographer, actress and painter. 1931 Founds his own publishing company The James Press to publish John Betjeman ->'s first book of Poetry. 1932 Visits Charles de Noailles and Marie-Laure de Noailles at their home in Hyeres which introduced him to the work of Salvador Dali. 1933 Affair with Marie-Laure de Noailles. In London sponsored the ballet The Seven Deadly Sins, a Brecht-Weill collaboration performed by Tilly Losch and Lotte Lenya, and another ballet with music by Darius Milhaud and sets and costumes by Andre Derain. He had also commissioned work by , Nickolas Nabakov ->, Henri Sauguet ->, Igor Markevitch and Francis Poulenc. 1934 Divorced. Ostracized by English society. 1935 Salvador Dali and Gala visit him at his rented villa in Ravello near Amalfi. 1936 In Paris met Leonor Fini with Julien Levy at a soiree in Salvador Dali's house. Signed contract with Salvador Dali for most of his production. They collaborate on interiors, assemblages and furniture. James is included in Swans Reflecting Elephants.
(+).Lends his paintings by Salvador Dali Tete Paranoiaque and Pablo Picasso Head of a Woman to Roland Penrose for the London International Surrealist Exhibition. 1937 Rene Magritte stays with him and is commissioned for paintings for his London House in Wimpole St. Not to be Reproduced
(+).Publishes his only novel The Gardener who Saw God, and the Surrealist text So Far So Glad. 1938 Oxford University Press publishes his poetry The Bones of My Hand. Commissions Rene Magritte Time Transfixed
(+).Pavel Tchelitchew stays at his rented Palace in Venice while finishing Phenomena ->. ==1940's== 1941 While in Hollywood, advised by his cousin Bridget Tichenor to search for a surreal location in Mexico. In New York he became friends with George Grosz. 1945 Found and proceeded to build Las Pozas in Mexico. 1947 Invites his cousin Bridget Tichenor to stay. 1948 Christmas at his English country house West Dean, invited Leonor Fini. ==1950's and later 1977? Dictates his early memoirs to George Melly (later to be published as Swans Reflecting Elephants). 1984 Dec. 2nd. d. San Remo, Italy. At his death his estate included works by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Jean Arp, Berard, Eugene Berman, Hieronymus Bosch, Giorgio de Chirico, Joseph Cornell, Paul Delvaux, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Leonor Fini, Alberto Giacometti, George Grosz, Paul Klee, Man Ray, ELT Mesens, Joan Miro, Paul Nash, Noguchi, Pablo Picasso, Yves Tanguy, Whistler; and extensive collections of Leonora Carrington, Rene Magritte, Pavel Tchelitchew, and Salvador Dali. Bibliography Surreal Life: Edward James 1907-1984 - Sharon-Michi Kusunoki (1998) Swans Reflecting Elephants A Biography of Edward James (1982) - edited George Melly (autobiography to 1935) See wiki -> and Esoteric Curiosa -> and bio ->. See Las Pozas ->. See Timeline