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Waldo Peirce
1884–1970

Introduction

Waldo Peirce (December 17, 1884 – March 8, 1970) was an American painter, who for many years reveled in living the life of a bohemian expatriate.

Peirce was both a prominent painter and a well-known colorful figure in the world of the arts. In a modern account, he was described as Rabelaisian, bawdy, witty, robust, wild, lusty, protean, lecherous, and luscious. He was sometimes called "the American Renoir." Peirce once said he never worked a day in his life. He did, however, 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 (he was married four times and had numerous children). With a mustache and full beard and a large cigar jammed perpetually into his mouth he looked every inch of a cartoonist's notion of an artist. Peirce himself was adamant about one thing: "I'm a painter," he insisted, "not an artist."

Wikidata identifier

Q3565323

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Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Accessed March 30, 2024.

Country of birth

United States

Roles

Artist, painter

ULAN identifier

500124326

Names

Waldo Peirce, Waldo Pierce

View the full Getty record

Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed March 30, 2024.

1 work