Ralph Rumney (5 June 1934 – 6 March 2002) was an English artist, born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, where his father was an Anglican vicar. In 1957 lifelong

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

Rumney—he evaded National Service by going on the run in continental Europe—was one of the co-founders of the London Psychogeographical Association. This organization was, along with COBRA and the Lettrist International, involved in the formation of the

Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

(SI). Amongst those present at the founding in the Italian village of Cosio d'Arroscia were Walter Olmo, Michèle Bernstein (later his second wife), Asger Jorn, and

Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situat ...

. However, within seven months Rumney had been "amiably" expelled from the SI by Debord for "failing to hand in a

psychogeography Psychogeography is the exploration of urban environments that emphasizes interpersonal connections to places and arbitrary routes. It was developed by members of the Letterist International and Situationist International, which were revolutionar ...

report about Venice on time." Rumney spent much of his life living as a wanderer, and was variously described as both a "recluse" and a "media whore", seeing his existence as a "permanent adventure and endless experiment." Rumney married Pegeen Guggenheim, the daughter of Peggy Guggenheim. He moved, as his friend Guy Atkins said, "between penury and almost absurd affluence. One visited him in a squalid room in London's Neal Street, in a house shared with near down-and-outs. Next, one would find him in Harry's Bar in Venice, or at a

Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...

opening in Paris. He seemed to take poverty with more equanimity than riches." His paintin
The Change
is in the Tate Gallery collection. He had initially gifted it to Peggy Guggenheim at the time he met her daughter Pegeen. Ralph Rumney died of cancer at his home in Manosque,

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

, France, in 2002, aged 67.

References

* ''The Map Is Not The Territory'' by Alan Woods and Ralph Rumney (Manchester University Press, ) was published in 2001. * ''The Consul'' by Ralph Rumney, a book of interviews conducted by Gérard Berreby (Verso, ) published in 2002. * ''La Vie d'artiste'', published in 2010, reproduces several of Rumney's works alongside biographical memoirs by Michèle Bernstein, Guy Atkins, Alison Dunhill and Malcolm Imrie (Editions Allia, ).

External links

Obituary by guardian.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rumney, Ralph 1934 births 2002 deaths Artists from Newcastle upon Tyne English artists English conscientious objectors Situationists Psychogeographers