The Girl in the Green Jumper: My Life with the Artist Cyril Mann

Mark Hudson is the art critic of the Independent, and the author of Titian, the Last Days (Bloomsbury). His books on people and places have won some of Britain’s most prestigious literary awards: the Somerset Maugham Award and the Thomas Cook Award for Our Grandmothers’ Drums, the NCR Award (precursor of the Baillie Gifford Prize) for Coming Back Brockens. His forthcoming work London, While I Wasn’t Looking, is a sprawling, collaged memoir of life in the British capital. Born in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), Renske Mann sought refuge in the Netherlands with her family after Independence. Aged 20, Renske moved to London where she met Cyril Mann, a gifted unsuccessful artist who was 28 years her senior. With little art knowledge, yet convinced of Cyril’s genius, Renske offered to be his model and muse, as well as provide financial support. With Cyril’s encouragement, Renske filled her educational gaps and she had a successful career in PR which allowed her to help him for the next 20 years.