31 Facts About Waldo Peirce

Waldo Peirce was an American painter, who for many years reveled in living the life of a bohemian expatriate.

Waldo Peirce did spend many hours every day for 50 years of his life painting still lifes, figures, and landscapes as well as hundreds of pictures of his beloved families.

Waldo Peirce was born December 17,1884, in Bangor, Maine, to Mellen Chamberlain Peirce and Anna Hayford.

Waldo Peirce had three siblings, an older brother and a younger sister and brother.

Waldo Peirce attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and graduated in 1903.

Waldo Peirce then attended Harvard University and, by his own account, barely graduated due to copious amounts of time spent in the local pool hall and other trivial pursuits.

Waldo Peirce was a large man for his time, and he was drafted onto the Harvard football team, solely, he said, because of his size.

Waldo Peirce was later decorated with the Croix de Guerre by the French government for bravery at Verdun.

For 10 years, between 1910 and 1920, Waldo Peirce lived the expatiate life in France and Paris, before returning to the United States for a couple of years.

Waldo Peirce then returned to Europe for several more years, and only returned to the US permanently with the advent of World War II.

In 1910, Waldo Peirce enjoyed a bit of local notoriety when his prank on friend John Reed, the American communist who is buried in the Kremlin walls, became known and circulated.

The duo had booked passage on a cattle freighter from Boston to England, however as the ship was leaving Boston Harbor, Waldo Peirce apparently decided that the accommodations were not to his taste.

One further embellishment to the story is that Waldo Peirce had swum in a multi-mile swimming contest at Harvard a few days prior.

In 1937, a Waldo Peirce painted portrait of Hemingway appeared on the cover of the October 18th issue of Time magazine.

Waldo Peirce's father was Isaac Rice, a New York lawyer, professor of law, and the founding publisher of Forum Magazine.

Waldo Peirce remarried and would go on to become a world-class bridge player with husband Hal Sims.

Waldo Peirce died in 1960 [in Cairo] while still working as an international political news correspondent.

Waldo Peirce studied at the Art Students League in Manhattan and later studied in Paris.

Mellen Chamberlain Waldo Peirce is an active poet and playwright who lives in London.

Waldo Peirce's wife is Gareth Peirce, the human rights activist attorney for the Birmingham Six and Gerry Conlon and the Guildford Four.

In 1938, both Alzira and Waldo Peirce joined the Works Progress Administration as a husband-and-wife team.

Waldo Peirce then moved to New Mexico and worked as an organizer for the United Mine Workers.

Alzira's talent, drive, and the children she had with Waldo Peirce deeply influenced his art.

When Waldo Peirce was painting Hemingway in Key West, or sailors dancing at Sloppy Joe's, Alzira was painting, too, literally and figuratively, at his side.

Waldo Peirce preferred the quiet life in Maine, but she kept a pied-a-terre in Manhattan.

Waldo Peirce was devoted to his children and painted them many hundreds of times.

Waldo Peirce's older brother, Hayford, was a noted authority on Byzantine art and his third wife, Alzira Waldo Peirce, enjoyed a modest reputation as a painter.

Waldo Peirce's nephew, Hayford Peirce, was a science-fiction and mystery writer.

Waldo Peirce was survived by his fourth wife, Ellen Antoinette Larsen, and his three sons and two daughters.

Waldo Peirce is interred in Mount Hope Cemetery, Bangor, Penobscot County, Maine.

Waldo Peirce's paintings have been acquired and exhibited by several prominent museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Brooklyn Museum, among others.