MEMOIRS
Editorial notes that are initialled JH are by Julian Hall: those initialled GRH are by Geraint Richard Hall, and those marked CH are by Clifford Hall himself.
In August 1964 Clifford Hall was in Antwerp, Belgium, working on the second series of his paintings of the city's red light district and harbour area. On the 12th and the 19th of the month wet weather prevented him from going out to draw and paint, so instead he sat in his hotel room and wrote a memoir of his experience of growing up before and during the First World War and his subsequent days as an art student.
NB This memoir covers the first 22 years of the artist's life and is previously unpublished except for the section about studying under Walter Sickert at The Royal Academy Schools, which appears (pages 71-74) almost verbatim in 'Sickert The Painter and His Circle' by Marjorie Lilly, first published by in Great Britain by Elek Books Limited, London, in 1971.
In 1941-2 the artist wrote an account of his time in France in the late 1920s in the company of the artist Rowley Smart, under the heading 'Notes on Rowley Smart'. This he gave to his friend, the writer W. S. Meadmore to be included in a biography of Smart. The book was rejected for publication, with the comment that had it all been like the section by Clifford Hall it would have been a different matter. Meadmore with characteristic good humour and generosity passed this comment on to Clifford Hall.
NB This is memoir covers the period 1927-34 and is previously unpublished; a few lines from it were quoted by Irving Gross in his foreword to the Clifford Hall Memorial Exhibition at The Belgrave Gallery in 1977. It is not known if there is an extant manuscript of W.S. Meadmore's book on Rowley Smart. Meadmore is now best remembered for his book on the artist Lucien Pissaro, published by Constable & Co in 1962.
3. The UNFINISHED MEMOIR (coming soon)
This memoir commences in 1929 recounting events in 1929 and 1930. It is followed by a list of notes for things to write about which stretches as far as events which took place circa 1946. It is full of intriguing stuff and it is a matter of much regret that Clifford Hall did not live to complete it. This material is all previously unpublished.
4. The CIRCUS MEMOIRS
During the 1930s the artist developed a strong interest in painting pictures of the circus. He was an early member of the CFA, Circus Friends Association of Great Britain (founded in 1934), went tenting (travelled with) the Bertram Mills Show and Frisco Franc Paulo's Circus and contributed articles to The Sawdust Ring magazine (later renamed King Pole magazine) which also reproduced a number of Clifford's Hall paintings and drawings as well as featuring several articles on the artist. He befriended a number of circus performers and clearly found a special affinity with the Clowns and provided the drawings for the 1937 book 'Clowning Through' by noted Ring Master Frank Foster. In the prologue to the book Foster gives the following account of the artist's first behind-the-scenes encounter with the clowns:
"Many amusing incidents occurred to Clifford Hall when he was making the illustrations, all taken from life. He travelled far and wide with the circus in pursuit of particularly interesting characters, sharing circus life, studying the clowns' methods of make-up, once falling a victim to their practical jokes in which he himself later became adept.
There is an old custom in the clowns' dressing-room that when a stranger enters he is bombarded with the pads used for whitening their faces. A visitor's conduct during this ordeal which, as one can imagine, is not a pleasant experience, determines his future standing among them. Take it with a smile and you are admitted; lose your temper and you are barred forever. Clifford Hall evidently saw the funny side of the joke, for I came upon him looking like a baker but laughing and actually enjoying it. I enlightened him on the custom and assured him that henceforth he would be allowed to enter and work in perfect peace, which he did with successful results. He was admitted as a friend."
For the most part, the days Clifford Hall spent travelling and working with the circus predate the time he began to keep a regular Journal and he never got around to writing a complete memoir as such about these experiences. However, he did write a few short pieces which give us some insight into this part of his life:
This is an article about Clifford's experiences depicting scenes he saw at Billy Smart's Circus. (Previously published in The Sawdust Ring, Winter 1936-37 edition)
Here the artists recalls a day travelling with the circus soon after the events. This may mark an early attempt at starting a journal. (Previously unpublished)
4.3 1948 - CIRQUE AMAR AT MESTRE (coming soon)
In August 1948 Clifford travelled to Venice, Italy. While there he and his companion go to a circus show in a nearby town. (Previously published in The King Pole, Winter 1948 edition)
Dedicated to the life and works of the British artist Clifford Hall, ROI, NS (1904-1973)