62
DOUGLAS MACDIARMID - St Merri II
Estimate:
$5,000 - $8,000
Sold
$6,000
Live Auction
IMPORTANT & RARE ART
Size
72.5 x 53.5 cm
Description
Oil on board
Condition
To request a condition report, please contact us at auctions@artcntr.co.nz or phone +64 9 379 4010
Signature
Signed & dated 1971
Provenance
Private Collection, Auckland
John Leech Gallery MacDiarmid exhibition, Auckland, 26 June-13 July 1973
Literature
A vivid abstract view from a window of one of Douglas’ inner-city Paris flats – in this case his first real estate purchase, two flats at 77, rue Saint-Martin, Saint-Merri, Paris; Floor 6 to live in, Floor 7 as his workplace. These were the upper levels of a 16th Century house with sweeping views over the rooftops of the city, from which he spent the next four years observing evocative scenes of familiar landmarks from his studio, day and night, and capturing them in all moods and weathers.
That old building still exists today, above a busy street frontage of vintage shops, souvenir sellers and art suppliers. Immediately across the street is the historic Church of Saint-Merri, with soaring Gothic architecture, magnificent stained-glass windows and a famous organ. Its bell tower contains the oldest bell in Paris, cast in 1331, which survived the French Revolution. This church is dedicated to an 8th Century abbot, Saint Mederic (also spelt Merri), the patron saint of the Right Bank. It is now both a place of worship and home to a distinguished vocal academy, which performs popular concerts in the church every Saturday.
Next to the church, in Douglas’ time in rue Saint-Martin, was a vacant block of land that was soon developed as the Centre Pompidou, a controversially ugly building of exposed industrial pipes that houses France’s Musée National d’Art Moderne, the largest modern art museum in Europe, as well as a specialist music and acoustic centre. The constant noise, dust and vibration from this massive construction site, which shook all nearby buildings as it took shape, as well as the constant din of church bells, was among the reasons Douglas sold the property and moved to a quieter quarter of the city in 1974.
St Merri IIis a much more abstract work than many of his Paris landscapes from this period, with the detail seen from the window rendered into colour and movement rather than descriptive form. Here was Douglas exploring the depths of the view in search of the essence he wanted to reveal.
As his close friend and fellow painter Piera McArthur said at the opening of a later exhibition in Wellington: ‘He talks endlessly about the need to digest one’s vision and to escape the tyranny of pure description, looking for the mysterious rhythm of painterly interpretation.
‘He often said to me "you must dig and dig deep into yourself, questioning". He once sent me an urgent note "I beg you to consider — if a pastel succeeds at once it can be marvellous, but if a painting is finished straight away there must be something wrong with it —love D."
St Merri came to New Zealand for MacDiarmid’s solo exhibition of recent cityscape canvasses at John Leech Gallery, Auckland, from June 26 to July 13, 1973 (Catalogue No 4, $260).
Once again, the Auckland art critics dismissed the show as largely decorative, unmemorable even. Although, they did concede his paintings always sold well in New Zealand… Fed up with being bagged, Douglas removed himself from the Auckland art scene and did not exhibit in the city again for 25 years.
Incidentally, the same year this painting was made, Douglas started tutoring an art class for the British & Commonwealth Women’s Association in Paris – mainly wives of diplomats and visiting expatriate academics & professionals. Later it became a weekly class (and lasted almost 40 years). Many of his students became close friends, and still speak of Douglas as the best ever painting mentor – he was fun, didn’t force rules upon them but gently guided individuals to look at things differently and unlock their own creativity. From being a social pastime, painting became a life habit for a good percentage of these women, as a result of his encouragement.
Anna Cahill Biographer | Colours of a Life: The life and times of Douglas MacDiarmid (2018), and Letters to Lilburn – Douglas MacDiarmid’s conversations from the heart (November 2022) Director | MacDiarmid Arts Trust
That old building still exists today, above a busy street frontage of vintage shops, souvenir sellers and art suppliers. Immediately across the street is the historic Church of Saint-Merri, with soaring Gothic architecture, magnificent stained-glass windows and a famous organ. Its bell tower contains the oldest bell in Paris, cast in 1331, which survived the French Revolution. This church is dedicated to an 8th Century abbot, Saint Mederic (also spelt Merri), the patron saint of the Right Bank. It is now both a place of worship and home to a distinguished vocal academy, which performs popular concerts in the church every Saturday.
Next to the church, in Douglas’ time in rue Saint-Martin, was a vacant block of land that was soon developed as the Centre Pompidou, a controversially ugly building of exposed industrial pipes that houses France’s Musée National d’Art Moderne, the largest modern art museum in Europe, as well as a specialist music and acoustic centre. The constant noise, dust and vibration from this massive construction site, which shook all nearby buildings as it took shape, as well as the constant din of church bells, was among the reasons Douglas sold the property and moved to a quieter quarter of the city in 1974.
St Merri IIis a much more abstract work than many of his Paris landscapes from this period, with the detail seen from the window rendered into colour and movement rather than descriptive form. Here was Douglas exploring the depths of the view in search of the essence he wanted to reveal.
As his close friend and fellow painter Piera McArthur said at the opening of a later exhibition in Wellington: ‘He talks endlessly about the need to digest one’s vision and to escape the tyranny of pure description, looking for the mysterious rhythm of painterly interpretation.
‘He often said to me "you must dig and dig deep into yourself, questioning". He once sent me an urgent note "I beg you to consider — if a pastel succeeds at once it can be marvellous, but if a painting is finished straight away there must be something wrong with it —love D."
St Merri came to New Zealand for MacDiarmid’s solo exhibition of recent cityscape canvasses at John Leech Gallery, Auckland, from June 26 to July 13, 1973 (Catalogue No 4, $260).
Once again, the Auckland art critics dismissed the show as largely decorative, unmemorable even. Although, they did concede his paintings always sold well in New Zealand… Fed up with being bagged, Douglas removed himself from the Auckland art scene and did not exhibit in the city again for 25 years.
Incidentally, the same year this painting was made, Douglas started tutoring an art class for the British & Commonwealth Women’s Association in Paris – mainly wives of diplomats and visiting expatriate academics & professionals. Later it became a weekly class (and lasted almost 40 years). Many of his students became close friends, and still speak of Douglas as the best ever painting mentor – he was fun, didn’t force rules upon them but gently guided individuals to look at things differently and unlock their own creativity. From being a social pastime, painting became a life habit for a good percentage of these women, as a result of his encouragement.
Anna Cahill Biographer | Colours of a Life: The life and times of Douglas MacDiarmid (2018), and Letters to Lilburn – Douglas MacDiarmid’s conversations from the heart (November 2022) Director | MacDiarmid Arts Trust
Exhibited
One Man Exhibition, John Leech Gallery June/July 1973
