A Haunted Painting?

The last few days have been a bit topsy-turvy at Pear Tree log.  People have come down with colds, including 6 week old Francesca, so we have had lots of child-minding and baby-sitting duties.  Not surprisingly, George finally succumbed to their cold and decided to sleep in Jonny's old room so that at least one of us would be fit to help look after the grandchildren.


What George didn't know was that I had recently stored a couple of paintings under Jonny's bed, to keep them safe.  Not just any paintings, they were done by an artist who, way back in the 60's and 70's exhibited and sold his work in New York, London, on the continent.  His work isn't to everyone's taste, I really like some of them,  but really it is the story behind the works which make them special to me.

See note at bottom of page...

The artist was the late Dr Edwin Aldrige Haddock, also known as Finn.   He died in 1996 aged 73.  During the second World War he trained to become a Typhoon pilot and in 1943 he was shot down in northern France.  He was picked up by the French Resistance and while he was with them he was captured by the Gestapo, taken to Tours Prison where he endured torture and beatings.  They demanded to know the names of the people involved in the resistance but despite being tortured for 99 days he didn't crack, they  sent him on to Stalag Luft III, site of the Great Escape.  Finally,  at the end of the war ,he had to flee the Russians who refused to hand the prisoners over to the Americans.

Cobra

Once back in England he trained as a doctor and eventually became a GP in Grimsby.  For the rest of his life he was a tormented man.  His experiences haunted him and he began painting through the night hours, when his memories were at their worst.    Amazing paintings which initially look very child-like, but they are incredible, they tell the story of his torture, individual torturers, and the torment of his mind.  They are complex layers of paint and texture,  his way of expressing the horrors he suffered.

He often represented himself as a fish, not surprising, given his surname!  This one is called The Interrogator, Finn Haddock represented himself as the red fish.


To cut a long story short,  without any knowledge that the paintings were there, George had a terrible night.  When he got up this morning he said he would never sleep in that room again... The room had changed shape and he was being tortured in the darkness, in a pit.  He said he felt as though someone was trying to pull his body apart.  Obviously this is a highly edited version, but George isn't given to fanciful notions.

The story of how I bought the paintings (at auction) is for another post.  

Sea Witch

PS.  I have switched the photos round, Sea Witch is a little troubling to be on your side bar.  Sorry, so instead I have posted a photo of the pond - more peaceful.  I will continue the story - without scary photos as soon as I have time.x