One of Paul’s most highly acclaimed works is now on
permanent display at The Prince
of Wales International Centre for SANE research. Most of us are intrigued
to know who the figures are and what is the significance of the setting? There
is a lot suggested within the composition. Paul’s wife Lorna explains a little
more about the work.
“Do
you know that from memory, I believe that “Barmy
Days” must have been
painted in the winter of 1991 and submitted in February 1992 ... the selections
would have been announced in March 1992 and the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery would have been
from June to September so less time to work on the painting than I had
initially thought ... there is quite a story behind how it came into being.
Paul had been in Brookwood
Hospital from the age of 15 to when he was 19 ... his diagnosis then
was Hebephrenic
Schizophrenia ... he came out of hospital in 1979 and very quickly
"fell in with a bad lot" during which time he committed cheque book
fraud ... he was arrested and sent to prison for a lengthy period (6 months)
considering it was a non-violent first offence ... it was largely because he
refused to name his new "friends" who were apparently quite happy for
him to take the full force of the law on their behalf. On his release, he
promptly met up with the same group and committed the very same offences and he
was apprehended very quickly, charged and convicted for "conspiracy to
defraud the clearing banks".
During his 2 year sentence he was judged to be well
enough to serve (so there was no discernible mental illness) and thus was
treated as a normal prisoner - it was during this time that he met Reggie & Ron Kray who
were very fond of him, hence much later Paul took part in the Sun's (newspaper)
campaign to get them released from prison after they had served their full
sentence - another story! But while Paul was in prison, he passed the time by
practising his drawing skills - he'd been spotted as having some talent in his
childhood. The Krays encouraged Paul and would ensure that he had the
peace and quiet he needed so that he could concentrate.
After his release he immediately bought paints and
started painting - being Paul, he didn't practise on small canvases or boards,
but rather took straight to a large work which he sold for £5,000 - he'd found
a way to live his life and support himself. Obviously it had been
something of a gamble but it had become clear to him that he didn't have the
makings of a successful career criminal! He was considerably encouraged
and supported by his first great love, Juliet who is a very gifted and skilled
pastel painter.
So Paul was a driven man - painting constantly,
driving a private hire car, running a fine art publishing company and painting
some more. Retrospectively it would be very easy to see that he was
in a pre-manic phase - full of energy and ideas, needing very little sleep,
mercurial temper, endlessly creative. He told me that he had always
assumed that ultimately he would retire back to Brookwood Hospital - that was
"home" - he knew he wasn't "quite right" and then he heard
about Care in the
Community - he was entirely disbelieving - how could that happen? He
knew the patients in that hospital and he knew that they needed
to be exactly where they were. At the same time he thought that he
would enter the national British Portrait competition and suddenly the idea for “Barmy
Days” was born in his head.
Paul is the man seated in the middle - painted in a
different hue from his friends - the greyer tinge to show that he was now on
the "outside" - that he'd joined "them" ... the other four
men were his friends with whom he had kept in touch constantly since he left
hospital Tony, Adrian, Sebastian and another Tony ... I met
Sebastian about 7 years ago - he was shuffling about in Godalming High Street
having ended up in an old folks' home ... briefly his story was that he was a
Hungarian refugee who had developed schizophrenia in the aftermath of the
Hungarian horrors of 1956 ... he had a wonderful face that somehow told his
whole history ... Paul painted him several times ... he was the one sitting
immediately on the right of Paul ... eventually they were all turfed out
into those homes which fed into the delusion that they were now a part of the community
... a community which, in Paul's words "had driven them mad in the first
place".
The little figure in the background was almost the
most important character - he was painted in the style of a Lowry stick figure
to show that he had already crossed into community and would be doomed to be
passed from pillar to post until he died. His wife got in touch with me
when Paul died ... she remembered Paul well and loved him for his painting.
Although the painting might be said to be prophetic regarding Paul - I
don't think that he particularly used it to foretell his own destiny - though
he constantly had his own death in mind. But it is factual that it was Care in
the Community that brought about his death. It is a system that just does not
work and those who did have humane concern eventually leave the care system in
frustration, those who stay are beaten down and made complacent by a system
that does not care for those mentally ill people within the community.
The actual painting of it was epic - his studio at
the time was rented and just as he was about halfway through (bearing in mind
that it's a huge painting - 8' x 6') the landlady wanted possession so that she
could do her own painting - she refused to give him an extension of only about
a month and it was the outcry of some locals that won him the use of a shed -
it was the middle of winter - no heating or running water - so Paul stood there
day after day, wearing four jumpers, four coats, several pairs of socks and
welly boots, to finish the painting and then do all the final stage work,
framing it etc ... it was only finished in the nick of time and was then driven
to the venue a matter of only a few hours before the closing day for entrants.
But ‘Barmy Days’ didn't win the
competition - it was commended and it was exhibited at the National Portrait
Gallery for 6 months with other works from the competition ... there was a
comment in Time Out magazine which I believe was less than complimentary but
Paul loved it anyway ... one of his greatest joys was for days on end to sit
reasonably near to the painting and listen out for people's comments when they
stood in front of the painting. He always enjoyed feedback from people
about his work - loved to know what they saw in it - that for him was far more
important than for him to talk about it ... he used to say that he painted in
order that he didn't need to speak. He also wrote poetry to express his
deep feelings.
When it was time for it to leave the National
Portrait Display, for a while it hung in the dining hall at Brookwood Hospital
and when I went there to train I actually heard people talking about it and
that was before I met Paul. Then Marjorie Wallace, founder of
SANE wanted to make a documentary about the closure of the hospitals and
when she saw the painting she offered to house it in her own hall until a
permanent home could be found. Paul wanted to donate it outright to SANE
- Marjorie was more comfortable with it being on long loan. Then the Prince of
Wales International Centre was planned and built - one of the walls in the
atrium was exactly the right size for ‘Barmy Days’ to be
placed ... I've got a SANETALK magazine with a photo of it in situ ... the plan
is for it to stay there. Marjorie was enormously supportive towards Paul
... always available to speak with ... and has been very kind in maintaining
her contact with me.
Paul was presented to the Prince of Wales
at the opening of the Centre - Paul was only just out of hospital having
made a serious suicide attempt. Paul told me it was his proudest moment -
the Prince had arranged with Marjorie that in view of Paul's fragility the
meeting would be slightly away from the assembled throng - he spent much longer
than the scheduled time talking with Paul and was so considerate towards Paul
as they chatted "painterly" things. A lovely memory.”
