Signed WP lower right and inscribed
Hammamet Tunisie
with frame painted by Waldo Peirce
below
The frame inscribed "for Christine"
was painted by Waldo Peirce as a gift for his friend Christine
Weston, the author of the best seller"Indigo" and frequent
contributor to the "New Yorker" magazine.
Pierce was known for his paintings of
his children, a subject he depicted numerous times when he settled
in Bangor, Maine with his third wife after years of travel in
Europe where he led a fun-filled adventurous life. His style was
loose and imperfect but full of the spirit of what he was painting,
which in his early career was often landscapes.
He was born the son of a wealthy lumberman
in Bangor, Maine and studied at Harvard University where he was
known much more for his personality and football playing skills
than for his scholastic ability.
In 1910, he decided to go to Europe,
but after boarding the ship in Boston, changed his mind, jumped
overboard and swam ashore. However, shortly after that, he left
for England and then went to the Academie Julian in Paris, and
lived partying life around Europe. He engaged in many pastimes
including canoe racing on the Thames in England and football on
a French team in Ireland. During World War I, he served as an
ambulance driver and earned the Croix de Guerre for bravery.
After the War, he toured in Spain with
writer Ernest Hemingway and painted in the styles of Spanish artist
Ignacio Zuloaga and French modernist Henri Matisse.
The following is from Martin L Peterson:
A large oil by Peirce of a slaughtered
steer hangs in the stairwell leading to the second floor of Ernest
Hemingway's house in Ketchum, Idaho. It is inscribed to Hemingway
from Peirce as a birthday present.
