Framed: 59 x 42 1/4 inches
artist
Pierce was known throughout his life as a large, fun-loving character who’s works often captured the energy and spirit of whatever he was painting. Born in Bangor, Manie to a wealthy lumber family, Pierce was able to attend Harvard University where he played football. By 1910 however he had decided to pursue an artistic career, first traveling to England then to Paris and the Academie Julien.
While in Europe Pierce lived an active life racing canoes on the Themes and playing football on French and Irish teams. During WWII Pierce returned to Maine, married (for the third time) and settled into his late career which included illustrations for a children’s book.
Description
Painted while traveling through Spain with his good friends Jack Johnson, a former heavyweight champion boxer, and the famed writer Ernest Hemingway, View from My Room, Spain is a Matisse-like cityscape painted with loose energetic brushwork and thin washes. The composition is energetic as well, lading the eye up the narrow, crooked street to a high horizon line. The repetition of downward facing angles, especially those of the rooftops and steps, returns the focus back to the foot of the street and a seated child, a meeting of three dogs, and a flower pot in the near foreground.
provenance
Greenwich Gallery, CT., until 2001
Private collection, Greenwich, CT., 2001 to present
