Sven Paul Berlin (14 September 1911 – 14 December 1999) was an English painter, writer and sculptor. He is now best known for his controversial fictionalised autobiography ''The Dark Monarch'', which was withdrawn just days after publication in 1962 following legal action. The book became the theme of an exhibition in
Tate St Ives
Tate St Ives is an art gallery in St Ives, Cornwall, England, exhibiting work by modern British artists with links to the St Ives area. The Tate also took over management of another museum in the town, the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture ...
in autumn 2009 when it was re-published.
Early life
Berlin was born and grew up in
Sydenham Sydenham may refer to:
Places Australia
* Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
** Sydenham railway station, Sydney
* Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne
** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...
, south-east London, in a conventional household for the time, though he was obliged to leave school due to financial pressures at the age of twelve, pursuing a successful career as an
adagio dancer until his mid-twenties, where he met his first wife, Helga.
First marriage and Second World War
In 1938 he moved to
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
to develop his artistic skills, and came under the influence of
Dr Frank Turk, an
Exeter University
, mottoeng = "We Follow the Light"
, established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter)
, type = Public
, ...
educationalist, and attended lectures on philosophy, ancient cultures and the arts. A son, Paul, and daughter, Janet (who later adopted the name Greta), were born in Cornwall. In the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
Berlin registered as a
conscientious objector
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
, and worked in the market garden established by the art critic
Adrian Stokes at Little Park Owles,
Carbis Bay
Carbis Bay (Cornish: ''Karrbons'', meaning "causeway") is a seaside resort and village in Cornwall, England. It lies southeast of St Ives, on the western coast of St Ives Bay, on the Atlantic coast. The South West Coast Path passes above th ...
, outside
St Ives, where he met fellow artists
Ben Nicholson
Benjamin Lauder Nicholson, Order of Merit, OM (10 April 1894 – 6 February 1982) was an English painter of abstract art, abstract compositions (sometimes in low relief), landscape and still-life.
Background and training
Nicholson was ...
and
Barbara Hepworth
Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...
. He also began research into the naive artist
Alfred Wallis
Alfred Wallis (18 August 1855 – 29 August 1942) was a British fisherman and artist known for his port landscapes and shipping scenes painted in a naïve style. Having no artistic training, he began painting at the age of 70, using househol ...
, and his book, the first profile to be written, was eventually published by
Tambimuttu
Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu (15 August 1915 – 23 June 1983) was a Tamil poet, editor, critic and publisher, who for many years played a significant part on the literary scenes of London and New York City. He founded in 1939 the respecte ...
's Poetry London in 1949. Berlin later renounced his position as a conscientious objector after observing some distressing naval bombing in the English Channel and joined the Army, taking part in the
D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
landings as a Forward Observer in France, Holland and Belgium. As well as writing about his experiences to Adrian Stokes, he also produced a series of pen and ink drawings of army life, local people and children caught up in the War. A breakdown led to his return, culminating in a divorce soon afterwards.
St Ives
Berlin was a member of the burgeoning artistic community around
St Ives on his return and met a local girl, Jacqueline Moran, with whom he moved into a cottage provided by the writer
Mabel Lethbridge
Mabel Florence Lethbridge BEM (7 July 1900 – 14 July 1968) was a 20th-century English writer and business woman. She was the youngest person at the time to receive the British Empire Medal, an award affiliated to the Order of the British Empir ...
. He met his second wife, the artist
Juanita Fisher in 1949 while living in a small concrete building next to Porthgwidden Beach, dubbed The Tower. Here he became something of a tourist attraction, carving stone outside, stripped to the waist. Among commissions, he illustrated
Peggy Pollard's book ''Cornwall'' and also exhibited in 1946 at the Lefevre Gallery in London among others. His friendship with writer
Denys Val Baker
Denys Val Baker (24 October 1917 – 6 July 1984) was a Welsh writer, specialising in short stories, novels, and autobiography. He was also known for his activities as an editor, and promotion of the arts in Cornwall.
Early years
Born Denys Ba ...
led to numerous contributions to and illustrations of his work in the literary magazine ''Cornish Review.''
Exhibiting paintings, drawings and sculpture regularly with the St. Ives Society of Artists and in London, Berlin was a founding member of the Crypt Group of modern-minded young artists, along with
Peter Lanyon
George Peter Lanyon (8 February 1918 – 31 August 1964) was a British painter of landscapes leaning heavily towards abstraction. Lanyon was one of the most important artists to emerge in post-war Britain. Despite his early death at the age ...
,
John Wells and
Bryan Wynter
Bryan Herbert Wynter (8 September 1915 – 2 February 1975)[Penwith Society of Arts
The Penwith Society of Arts is an art group formed in St Ives, Cornwall, England, UK, in early 1949 by abstract artists who broke away from the more conservative St Ives School. It was originally led by Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, a ...](_blank)
for a short time, before leaving the group following a much-publicised rift between the Modernists, led by Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth on one side and the more representational artists on the other. This artistic clash of egos was the inspiration for ''The Dark Monarch''. Berlin's increasing isolation after he was forced to leave his studio, when the council decided to build new conveniences on the site, led to the Berlins' departure for the New Forest in 1953 after their marriage and the birth of their son, Jasper.
New Forest
Berlin and Juanita settled in the
New Forest
The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...
in Hampshire and lived alongside the gypsies, where he famously recorded, in oil paintings and drawings, the last days of the community in Shave Green, a body of work which was exhibited in 2003 at
St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery
St Barbe Museum + Art Gallery is a local museum and art gallery in Lymington, Hampshire, England.
Enclosed in the building is a small cafe called 'The Old School Cafe', a gift shop, multi-use room named 'The Mac Carthy Room', a museum showcasi ...
in Lymington and at the retrospective of his work, ''Out of the Shadows'' at Penlee House, Penzance in 2012. Once settled in Home Farm in Emery Down in 1958, he was able to work from a studio and workshop, while Juanita, an accomplished horsewoman, set up a stud farm. He completed his 7.5-ton Carrara marble bas-relief ''The White Buck'' in 1958; this was saved from demolition in 2015. Berlin was able to paint, carve, cast bronze in his own foundry and write, exhibiting at shows including in London at Arthur Tooth and Son, and appearing on television and in newspapers. ''I Am Lazarus (1961''), based on his war experiences, and ''The Dark Monarch (1962)'' were published. On the latter's publication, four St. Ives residents portrayed in it (none of them artists, although they included the poet and writer Arthur Caddick) began actions for libel.
Berlin was also fascinated by the Romany culture and wildlife of the New Forest, realised in a series of mystical and philosophical stories ''Jonah's Dream: A Meditation on Fishing'' and the story of his journey from St. Ives to the New Forest in a gypsy wagon, ''Dromengro, Man of the Road''.
His marriage to Juanita, a talented writer, poet and artist in her own right, ended in divorce, after she eloped with Fergus Casey, their groom.
Later life
Berlin met his third wife, Julia, 33 years his junior, and moved to the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
in 1970, before finally settling near
Wimborne
Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Poole ...
in 1975. He remained prolific in painting, writing and sculpture until his death at the age of 88.
Selected works
*''Alfred Wallis: Primitive'' (Biography) (1949)
*''I Am Lazarus'' (1961)
*''The Dark Monarch'' (1962)
*''Jonah's Dream: A Meditation on Fishing'' (1964)
*''Dromengro: Man of the Road'' (1971)
*''Pride of the Peacock – The Evolution of an Artis''t (1972)
*''Amergin'' (1978)
*''Who Wrote Joke Grim?'' (1993)
*''The Coat of Many Colours'' (1994)
*''Virgo in Exile'' (1996)
*The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1997) Illustrations and handwritten.
*The Walking Door Bramden Records. Poetry written and read by Sven Berlin
*The Other Man (2005)
*"Teenagers" (1971) a watercolour painting once owned by David Bowie
See also
*
List of St. Ives artists
A list of St Ives artists, artists who have lived in the town of St Ives in Cornwall, southwest England, are as follows:
19th century
Early and mid 20th century
Late 20th century/ 21st century
Gallery
File:Offspring2009.jpg, ''Offspring ...
References
External links
Sven Berlin at MutualArt.comYouTube film from Sven Berlin Out of the Shadows exhibition*http://www.britishpathe.com/video/gypsy-artists
*https://www.svenberlin.co.uk
*https://www.svenberlin.co.uk/blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berlin, Sven
1911 births
1999 deaths
Sculptors from London
English male sculptors
English conscientious objectors
People from Sydenham, London
20th-century English writers
20th-century British sculptors
St Ives artists