|
© Kurt und Ernst Schwitters Stiftung
Harry Pierce—Oil on board—1947—The Pierce Family
Harry Pierce was a landscape
architect living in virtual retirement in Langdale. Schwitters painted
this portrait seated beside one of his summerhouse sheds, about half a
mile from his house at Chapel Stile. Harry had bought Cylinders Farm, a
stretch of rough pasture and woodland a few years before and with two
assistants was planting trees and shrubs from all parts of the world,
contriving an Eden in the wilderness. It was a kind of horticultural Merz.
In Harry's words:
"I met Kurt Schwitters in the spring of 1947 after
seeing a portrait he had painted of the late Dr. George Johnston
exhibited in a shop window in Ambleside. I asked Dr. Johnston who had
painted his portrait and he told me a German artist staying in
Ambleside, and he added: “the poor man has lost everything twice over,
if you can help him at all - do.”
"Still thinking of what the doctor had said and
wondering if Schwitters would paint a portrait of myself, I walked once
or twice past the house where he was lodging and Schwitters himself, a
tall dark man with a sensitive face and strongly marked features, came
out of his door and asked me if I was looking for anyone. Somehow, this
decided me and I went in, introducing myself and asked him if he would
paint my portrait. He agreed at once and we made all arrangements for
him to come out to Langdale as he wished to work where I was busy
forming a garden on a hillside near my home." |
|
© Kurt und Ernst Schwitters Stiftung
Ida Pierce (unfinished) - oil on board—1947—The
Pierce Family
KS was commissioned by Harry to paint a portrait of
his wife Ida. KS managed only one sitting of one hour - in
Harry's words:
"But Schwitters was far from well: I asked
him to paint a portrait of my wife and he came to my home and worked for
about an hour. He laid down his brushes, said, “That is enough for
today.” It was his last stroke of work: and in two days he was dead in
hospital in Kendal and was buried in Ambleside Churchyard."
Editor's note: Harry wrote the above in 1965, his memory of the
timescale is inaccurate and the last few days are catalogued by
Gwendolen Webster as:
December 1947 week 3 Deteriorates rapidly,
taken to Kendal hospital.
Christmas - Contracted bronchitis which developed into pneumonia.
Lies in a morphine delirium, talks incoherently of Helma and Paris.
29th December - Moved to an annexe of the hospital.
7th January - Letter arrives at 4 Millans Park with formal approval of his
request for British Citizenship. Comatose by now for many days.
8th January 1948 - Passes away with Wantee and Ernst at his side.
Cause of death given as "Acute pulmonary oedema and myocarditis."
Schwitters needed all of his failing strength to
try to complete the Merzbarn, sadly never finishing this portrait of
Ida. The work is of major interest to students of KS’ work as an example
of how he laid out the main structure of his portraits and as his final
portrait.
Both these portraits need to be seen live to get the full power of his
works. The garden to Harry's right and the Langdales in the
background is an unusual part of
a KS portrait, but the addition can understood when you consider the
rapport between these two men and what each was trying to achieve at
Cylinders Farm.
|