Waldo Peirce (1884–1970) Biography
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Waldo Peirce (1884–1970) was a prominent American painter and well-known colorful character on the art scene with his imposing physique and powerful personality. He spent 50 years painting still lifes, figures, portraits, and landscapes, with his portraits from the 1920s–1940s being especially desirable. Figures with women seated in domestic settings reading or sewing such as Woman Knitting are also highly regarded.
Peirce was a world traveler living the bohemian life style as an expatriate for many years. In a 2020 Portland Monthly feature he was described as Rabelaisian, bawdy, witty, robust, wild, lusty, protean, lecherous, luscious, and was sometimes called “the American Renoir.”
Peirce was a longtime friend of Ernest Hemingway. They travelled together and spent time in Spain. In 1937, Peirce’s portrait of Hemingway appeared on the October cover of Time Magazine.
Pierce was born December 17, 1884, in Bangor, Maine. He was heir to generations of lumber barons on both sides of his family. Peirce graduated in 1903 from Philips Academy in Andower, MA, and from Harvard University in 1907, although the exact date is unknown as he spent much of his time at Harvard in pool halls. He also studied at the Arts Student League in NYC, and the Académie Julian in Paris.
Peirce was a veteran of WWI and served as an ambulance driver for the Field Service of the American Ambulance Corps. He was on the front lines at Verdun and awarded the Croix de Guerre for bravery.
Peirce was married four times, including to Alzira Peirce, née Boehm, who was an accompished artist in her own right. In 1938, both Alzira and Waldo joined the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as a husband-and-wife team. Alzira’s mural, Ellsworth, Lumber Port, was painted in 1938 for the Post Office in Ellsworth, Maine. The painting now hangs in Ellsworth’s City Hall.