Henry Cliffe (1919-1983)
Painter, printmaker and teacher, who enrolled in 1946 as a student at the Bath Academy of Art where he was to later teach alongside William Scott, Peter Lanyon, Terry Frost, Bryan Winter, Howard Hodgkin and Adrian Heath. He was chosen for the British Pavilion at the 1954 Venice Biennale with Ben Nicholson, Francis Bacon and Lucien Freud returning again in 1960 alongside Pasmore and Paolozzi. His first one-man exhibition was at the Redfern Gallery in 1956 and three years later his first one-man print show was held at St. George’s Gallery.
Well to continue the theme of artists, I looked up a friend from Bath, long gone, who was also an artist. It was Tasker talking about the fox that visited their garden and it jogged my memory, and I remembered Henry also fed the foxes each evening. The Cliffes, Valerie and Henry, lived in one of the large Victorian houses in Weston Park in Bath. My husband then had rented out their attic flat from them and they had become friends.
We lived in a modern house the other side of the valley between Weston Park and Weston Lane, our house built into the downward slope of the hill had a long garden meeting up with the gardens of Weston Park, there was a 'ha-ha'* separating the two gardens.
Once before our houses had been built there had been a field, through which ran a stream which had had a bridge over it, the stream in the middle ages had serviced a mill further down the lane.
In late Victorian times the occupant of the house behind us had designed Victoria Park, and in our garden there were still a couple of old Japanese trees and some Japanese knotweed, which never did anything spectacular by the way but stayed as a clump in its position. The house next door to this Victorian house belonged to Leo McKern of 'Rumbold of the Bailey's' fame. And his deep actor's voice could often be heard, especially when he was telling off a neighbour complaining about his garden fires.
Henry once gave us a painting, now lost in all the moves, and I was at the time never aware of all his paintings.
His wife Val on his death moved to a large flat just outside the city and we went there for parties but the saddest moment for me was when we had to visit to meet the private ambulance that was taking her to the hospice.
Her son had phoned up and asked us to meet the ambulance at the house. It was a splendid Bath flat, the doors were open when we arrived, there was a pot of something simmering on the stove and Ron and I walked through to find Val in bed smiling sweetly. In true English style we never spoke of what was happening, though I struggled with sadness, I packed her a suitcase. Her wardrobe was a revelation. A good dozen of pale silk blouses, colour coordinated, her clothes immaculate.
She phoned me a few days later to thank us and we talked but not about that creature in the room that was about to take her life. I have often wondered would I have said anything differently now?
Val had lots of art books, coffee book table, she taught at the Bath Academy of Art, her flat was a joy to walk into full of colour and the books.
I am not a fan of modern art but there are a lot of Henry's paintings on the internet, and I am not quite sure about this one but it is titled 'Lansdown' which is of course part of the downs outside Bath.
* A ha-ha (French: hâ-hâ or saut de loup), also known as a sunk fence, blind fence, ditch and fence, deer wall, or foss, is a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier (particularly on one side) while preserving an uninterrupted view of the landscape beyond from the other side. The name comes from viewers' surprise when seeing the construction.
Leo McKern used to call into The Bell every night, drink about 4 double white wine and sodas, then get into his open top Mercedes and drive back to Weston.
ReplyDeleteBeing an actor I suppose he was a bit of a show off. There used to be another actor I would see walking down to Bath but never knew his name. Tall with a face a bit like a boxer, he always played villains.
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