Page 36 - Studio International - November 1966
P. 36
back in his old age.
As an old man, Wallis was isolated within the com-
munity he lived in because he was not one of them by
birth, because his wife had died, and because he found it
increasingly hard to trust people. He became in no small
degree a misanthropist. 'Alfred Wallis got what he looked
for: he looked to be without a friend—he died a hermit',
Berlin recalls one account of him. So Wallis died destitute
in a workhouse, his only friends and visitors being the
few artists who had admired and bought his paintings,
and who latterly kept him supplied with materials. It is a
sad story. But Wallis was also isolated, it should be
remembered, because he engaged himself six days a week
in an activity that none of his neighbours was equipped
to understand or take seriously, except as an elegant
summer occupation for gentlemen who had trained in
London and Paris and exhibited in the Royal West of
England Academy. Clearly Wallis, who didn't even go
out and look at what he was painting, was someone to be
quietly laughed at.
He was regarded as 'a bit queer in 'is 'ead', as I have
frequently heard him described. Only a few professional
artists were prepared to understand him, and take what
he was doing seriously. To Christopher Wood, who with
Ben Nicholson chanced to pass by his open door during
a visit to St Ives in September 1928, the old man working
at his table with his pictures nailed up all round the wall
was not in the least 'a bit queer in 'is 'ead', but 'just like
Cezanne'. q
Above Sailing Ship and Icebergs Opposite top St Ives
Collection: Mrs Nicolete Gray Reproduced by courtesy of the Trustees of the Tate Gallery
Wallis used to say that as a boy he crossed the
Atlantic to Newfoundland, when he might well have
Opposite bottom Boats at Sea
seen icebergs. He often incorporated a crescent moon Collection: Adrian Stokes
The dark red at the top of the painting is the bare
in his paintings, but always in the inverted form in
which it appears in this painting.
mahogany wood of the panel.
