Waldo Peirce
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Waldo Peirce (December 17, 1884 – March 8, 1970) was an American
painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
, who for many years reveled in living the life of a
bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
expatriate. Peirce was both a prominent painter and a well-known colorful figure in the world of the arts. In a modern account, he was described as Rabelaisian, bawdy, witty, robust, wild, lusty, protean, lecherous, and luscious. He was sometimes called "the American
Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Re ...
." Peirce once said he never worked a day in his life. He did, however, spend many hours every day for 50 years of his life painting
still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...
s,
figures Figure may refer to: General *A shape, drawing, depiction, or geometric configuration *Figure (wood), wood appearance *Figure (music), distinguished from musical motif *Noise figure, in telecommunication *Dance figure, an elementary dance patter ...
, and
landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of Terrestrial ecoregion, land, its landforms, and how they integrate with Nature, natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionar ...
as well as hundreds of pictures of his beloved families (he was married four times and had numerous children). With a mustache and full beard and a large cigar jammed perpetually into his mouth he looked every inch of a cartoonist's notion of an artist. Peirce himself was adamant about one thing: "I'm a painter," he insisted, "not an artist."


Biography

Waldo Peirce was born December 17, 1884, in
Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...
, to Mellen Chamberlain Peirce and Anna Hayford. His father was a Bangor lumber baron. Peirce had three siblings, an older brother and a younger sister and brother. He attended
Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...
in
Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...
, and graduated in 1903. He then attended
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and, by his own account, barely graduated due to copious amounts of time spent in the local pool hall and other trivial pursuits. Although Peirce always identified with the Class of 1907, the exact year of his graduation is not clear, and he may have received his diploma in either 1908 or 1909. Peirce was a large man for his time, and he was drafted onto the Harvard football team, solely, he said, because of his size. He played the center position. After Harvard, Peirce studied art at the
Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at American Fine Arts Society, 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists ...
in New York City, and later, traveled to Europe where he studied at both the
Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...
in Paris and with the Spanish artist
Ignacio Zuloaga Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta (July 26, 1870October 31, 1945) was a Spanish painter, born in Eibar (Guipuzcoa), near the monastery of Loyola. Family He was the son of metalworker and damascener Plácido Zuloaga and grandson of the organizer and d ...
. He initially focused on
Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...
. In 1915, two years before the entry of the United States into
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he joined the
American Field Service AFS Intercultural Programs (or AFS, originally the American Field Service) is an international youth exchange organization. It consists of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations, each with its own network of volunteers, professiona ...
, an ambulance corps that served on the French battlefields. He was later decorated with the
Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...
by the French government for bravery at
Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...
. For 10 years, between 1910 and 1920, Peirce lived the expatiate life in France and
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, before returning to the United States for a couple of years. He then returned to Europe for several more years, and only returned to the U.S. permanently with the advent of
World War II 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 ...
. In 1938, he was commissioned by the
Treasury Section of Fine Arts The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury. Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...
to paint two murals, ''Legends of the Hudson'' and ''Rip van Winkle'', for the
U.S. Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...
in
Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...
. In 1960
Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...
exhibited his paintings along with ceramics by Raymond Gallucci and paintings by Charles Ward in an exhibition curated by
Francis Quirk Francis James Quirk (June 3, 1907 – February 5, 1974) was an American artist, educator, museum curator, and TV personality. He is best known for his paintings of Edgar Lee Masters and Carl Sandberg, as well as his affiliation with Lehigh Univer ...
.


John Reed prank

In 1910, Peirce enjoyed a bit of local notoriety when his prank on friend John Reed, the American communist who is buried in the Kremlin walls, became known and circulated. The duo had booked passage on a cattle freighter from Boston to England, however as the ship was leaving
Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeastern United States. History Since ...
, Peirce apparently decided that the accommodations were not to his taste. Without a word to anyone, he jumped off the back of the ship and swam several miles back to shore. Reed was then arrested by the ship's captain for the alleged involvement of his vanished traveling companion and thrown into the brig. When the freighter eventually arrived in England, Peirce was at the dock waiting to greet his friend Reed. After his swim back to shore, or, by another account, being picked up by a lobster boat, he had then taken a faster ship to England. In later accounts, Peirce's John Reed story seemed to evolve and shift, to the extent its complete veracity may never be truly known. One further embellishment to the story is that Peirce had swum in a multi-mile swimming contest at Harvard a few days prior.


Friendship with Ernest Hemingway

Peirce was a longtime friend of Ernest Hemingway. After WWI had come to an end, Peirce befriended Hemingway in Europe and the two traveled together to various continental locations, in particular Spain. In 1937, a Peirce painted portrait of Hemingway appeared on the cover of the October 18th issue of ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine. Peirce was once called "the Ernest Hemingway of American painters." To that he replied, "They'll never call Ernest Hemingway the Waldo Peirce of American writers." His friendship with Hemingway only ended with Hemingway's premature death in 1961.


Personal life

Peirce was married four times and had five children. His first marriage was to Dorothy Rice, an artist, aviatrix, and the first woman to receive a U.S. motorcycle license. Her father was Isaac Rice, a New York lawyer, professor of law, and the founding publisher of ''Forum Magazine''. Dorothy studied sculpture and painting in the Art Students League, with instruction from
Robert Henri Robert Henri (; June 24, 1865 – July 12, 1929) was an American painter and teacher. As a young man, he studied in Paris, where he identified strongly with the Impressionists, and determined to lead an even more dramatic revolt against A ...
,
William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...
,
John Sloan John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight. He is best known ...
, and
George Bellows George Wesley Bellows (August 12 or August 19, 1882 – January 8, 1925) was an American realism, American realist painting, painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City. He became, according to the Columbus Museum of Art ...
. She met Peirce through a mutual friend, George Biddle, and wrote in her 1938 autobiography, ''Curiouser and Curiouser'', "I inquired Waldo's height—he was six feet two. This seemed a dignified height. I told George to produce Waldo, which he did. We got married in Madrid, in a German Methodist Church, with the American vice-consul, who was a Filipino, to make it legal." Rice filed for divorce in 1917. She remarried and would go on to become a world-class bridge player with husband Hal Sims. Aside from being an artist, Dorothy Rice was a writer and published the mystery novel ''Fog'', with Valentine Williams. She died in 1960 n Cairowhile still working as an international political news correspondent.
Ivy Troutman Ivy Troutman (September 23, 1884 – January 12, 1979) was an American supporting actress active during the first half of the twentieth century. She acted in at least twenty-one Broadway productions between 1902 and 1945, appearing in such long- ...
(1884–1979) was an actress who appeared "in at least 21 Broadway productions between 1902 and 1945," according to Wikipedia, many of them long-running hits, one of them, ''The Late George Apley'', a satire on Boston high society co-written by
George S. Kaufman George Simon Kaufman (November 16, 1889June 2, 1961) was an American playwright, theater director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals for the Marx Brothers and others. ...
and
John P. Marquand John Phillips Marquand (November 10, 1893 – July 16, 1960) was an American writer. Originally best known for his Mr. Moto spy stories, he achieved popular success and critical respect for his satirical novels, winning a Pulitzer Prize for '' ...
, running through 384 shows. The two were married in 1920 and moved to Paris. According to her former paperboy, Jim Forest, Ivy became close friends with writer
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
during her time in Paris. "Perhaps the greatest treasure in her treasure-filled house was a copy of the first edition of Joyce's Ulysses..." Alzira Handforth Boehm was the granddaughter of Vienna-born August Abraham Boehm, the high-flying developer who built an 11-story skyscraper in the Manhattan Diamond District that was one of the first in the world. Known as
14 Maiden Lane 14 Maiden Lane, or the Diamond Exchange, is an early example of a New York skyscraper in what is now the Financial District of Manhattan. Completed in 1894, it is still standing. History At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuri ...
or "
The Diamond Exchange The Diamond Exchange was a professional wrestling stable led by Diamond Dallas Page in the American Wrestling Association from 1988 to 1989. Page led a spiritual successor known as The Diamond Mine in World Championship Wrestling from 1991 to 199 ...
," it's still there. She studied at the Art Students League in Manhattan and later studied in Paris. Dr. William Gallagher of Bangor, an expert on Waldo Peirce, writes in the ''
Harvard Review ''Harvard Review'' is a biannual literary journal published by Houghton Library at Harvard University. History In 1986 Stratis Haviaras, curator of the Woodberry Poetry Room at Harvard University, founded a quarterly periodical called ''Erato''. ...
'' that Alzira met Waldo "at a Matisse show in New York." In Paris she delivered the couple's twin boys, Michael and Mellen. They then had daughter Anna. Mellen Chamberlain Peirce is an active poet and playwright who lives in London. His wife is Gareth Peirce, the human rights activist attorney for the
Birmingham Six The Birmingham Six were six Irishmen who were each sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 following their false convictions for the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. Their convictions were declared unsafe and unsatisfactory and quashed by the Cou ...
and
Gerry Conlon Gerard Patrick "Gerry" Conlon (1 March 1954 – 21 June 2014) was an Irish man known for being one of the Guildford Four who spent 15 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of being a Provisional IRA bomber. Biography Gerard Conlon was ...
and the
Guildford Four Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildfo ...
.
Emma Thompson Dame Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is a British actress. Regarded as one of the best actresses of her generation, she has received numerous accolades throughout her four-decade-long career, including two Academy Awards, two British A ...
was nominated for an Oscar playing Gareth in the 1993 movie ''In The Name of the Father'', with
Daniel Day-Lewis Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English retired actor. Often described as one of the preeminent actors of his generation, he received numerous accolades throughout his career which spanned over four decades, incl ...
also nominated for his role as Conlon. In 1938, both Alzira and Waldo joined the Works Progress Administration as a husband-and-wife team. Ellsworth's City Hall is graced by an Alzira mural, Ellsworth, Lumber Port. During World War II, Alzira was an Army captain in the American Red Cross Motor Corps. When the war was over, she and Waldo divorced. She then moved to New Mexico and worked as an organizer for the United Mine Workers. Alzira's talent, drive, and the children she had with Waldo deeply influenced his art. When Waldo was painting Hemingway in Key West, or sailors dancing at Sloppy Joe's, Alzira was painting, too, literally and figuratively, at his side. She was painting across generations. Ellen Antoinette Larsen was Waldo's fourth wife, and they remained married for 24 years until his death. "I spoke with my Aunt Karin," Will Peirce, Waldo's grandson, writes. "Her mother was Ellen Larsen, born in Minneapolis in 1920, passed away in 2001. She studied art in New York—she painted. A friend of Ellen's used to model for Waldo, and she and Waldo went to a well-known cafe or restaurant where Ellen waited tables. It was during wartime. The romance started there. She preferred the quiet life in Maine, but she kept a pied-à-terre in Manhattan. After they got married, she modeled for Waldo, as did his kids. There was no escaping that job in our family! Her painting style resembled Waldo's sometimes. Sometimes it was quite different." Peirce was devoted to his children and painted them many hundreds of times. In a letter written in the mid-1930s, Ernest Hemingway described a visit by Peirce to his home in
Key West, Florida Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...
: "Waldo is here with his kids like untrained hyenas and him as domesticated as a cow. Lives only for the children and with the time he puts on them they should have good manners and be well trained but instead they never obey, destroy everything, don't even answer when spoken to, and he is like an old hen with a litter of ape hyenas. I doubt if he will go out in the boat while he is here. Can't leave the children. They have a nurse and a housekeeper too, but he is only really happy when trying to paint with one setting fire to his beard and the other rubbing mashed potato into his canvasses. That represents fatherhood."''The Private Hemingway'' (excerpt), quoted in ''The New York Times'', February 15, 1981. Peirce's older brother, Hayford, was a noted authority on
Byzantine art Byzantine art comprises the body of Christian Greek artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome and lasted ...
and his third wife, Alzira Peirce (1908–2010), also enjoyed a modest reputation as a painter. His nephew,
Hayford Peirce Hayford Peirce (January 7, 1942 – November 19, 2020) was an American writer of science fiction, mysteries, and a spy thriller. He wrote numerous short stories for the science-fiction magazines ''Analog'', '' Galaxy'', and '' Omni'', as well ...
(1942–2020), was a science-fiction and mystery writer. Prominent British solicitor
Gareth Peirce Gareth Peirce (born Jean Margaret Webb; March 1940) is a British solicitor and human rights activist. She has worked on a number of high-profile cases involving allegations of human rights injustices. Her work with Gerry Conlon and the Guildfo ...
married his son Bill.


Death and legacy

A resident of
Searsport, Maine Searsport is an incorporated town and deep water seaport located at the confluence of the Penobscot River estuary and the Penobscot Bay immediately NW of Sears Island and Cape Jellison in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The population was 2, ...
, Peirce died on March 8, 1970, in
Newburyport, Massachusetts Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 census. A historic seaport with vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mo ...
, of a cerebral thrombosis. He was 85 years old. He was survived by his fourth wife, Ellen Antoinette Larsen, and his three sons and two daughters. He is interred in Mount Hope Cemetery, Bangor,
Penobscot County Penobscot County is a county in the U.S. state of Maine, named for the Penobscot Nation on Wabanakik. As of the 2020 census, the population was 152,199. Its county seat is Bangor. The county was established on February 15, 1816, from part of ...
, Maine. Peirce's paintings have been acquired and exhibited by several prominent museums, including the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, the
Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude ...
, the
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryl ...
, and the
Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...
, among others.


Further reading

* Hulick, Diana Emery and Robert F. Brown. ''Waldo Peirce: A New Assessment, 1884–1970'' (Orono, Maine: University of Maine, 1984), 78 pp. * Varga, Margit. ''Waldo Peirce'' (New York: The Hyperion Press, 1941), 76 pp.


See also

*
List of ambulance drivers during World War I This is a list of notable people who served as ambulance drivers during the First World War. A remarkable number—writers especially—volunteered as ambulance drivers for the Allied Powers. In many cases, they sympathized strongly with the ideal ...


References


External links


Waldo Peirce at the Schneider Museum of Art
Southern Oregon University,
Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 21,360 at the 2020 cen ...

Article about Waldo Peirce
in ''Bangor Metro Magazine'', December 2005
Uniform Grouping of Waldo Peirce
at USMilitariaForum.com, September 2010 – with text "on his service with the American Field Service during the First World War"
"Waldo Peirce"[
at Citizendium.org
"So Much More Than Waldo's Wives"
in ''Portland Magazine'', September 2018. {{DEFAULTSORT:Peirce, Waldo 1884 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters American people of World War I Harvard College alumni Académie Julian alumni Modern painters Artists from Bangor, Maine Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Painters from Maine People of the New Deal arts projects Phillips Academy alumni American expatriates in France 20th-century American male artists