Alfred Wallis Cornish Primitive Painter Alfred Wallis gallery cornwall paintings for sale

Wallis - The Man
Continuation... Wallis had always been an industrious man. After retiring as a fisherman he ran the Marine Stores in St Ives for 22 years (1890-1912), after which, at the age of 57, he undertook odd jobs for the local antiques dealer, Andrew Armour. He and his wife, Susan, lived in 'retirement' for ten years up to her death in 1922.
Wallis's closest friends, who all shared their memories of him with Sven Berlin (for publication in Berlin's 1949 monograph), were antique dealer Andrew Armour, grocer Albert Baughan and watchmaker Mr Edwards. Whilst they might well have been bemused by his art, they were all kindly and encouraged Wallis to pursue his new-found interest.
It is clear that Wallis's much-reported dementia came late in his life, probably progressively over the last three or four years. This solitary existence was aggravated in his latter years by the development of senile paranoia, characterized by intense suspicion of his relatives, declining interest in food and hygiene, and hallucinations at night. (Roger Slack) Sven Berlin recounted (Art Review, May 1995) how Wallis's close friends helped when his condition worsened: Alfred's mind did slip into illusion towards the end and his friends Mr Armour and Mr Edwards would go round to his cottage with a length of cord and a sheaf of straw "to clear away the wires." To do this they climbed on the roof and let the sheaf of straw down the chimney tied to a clock weight, into the front room fireplace, working it up and down until Alfred was convinced that the Devil, who lived in the room upstairs with his dead wife, Duty Mighty, was no longer able to operate his wireless and send evil messages when he was asleep in the coffin-like bed Alfred had built for himself on the settee. When the chimney was clear he thanked them: 'That's alright' they said 'only too glad to clear the wires away for ee, my 'ansome!' and went away. After that he was able to paint, undisturbed, for several weeks because his friends had taken him seriously."

Wallis - The Man