The Notebooks of M. de Lange recording conversations with Flora Scales, 1982-1983

Marjorie and Theo de Lange were friends with Patience (Patty) and Pat Tennent for many years. Theo and Pat in particular had much in common having served in the RNZAF in the Pacific in WWII.

It was through Patty that the de Lange family met her aunt, Flora Scales, in 1975 when Scales was visiting Patty at Lake Rotoiti and living at the Rotorua Masonic Village. With the approval of Miss Scales, as we all called her, and the full support of Patty, Scales became the subject of my study towards an MA in Art History (uncompleted) at the University of Auckland, late 1970s. Due to distance, I frequently sent lists of questions or subjects to be delved into, to my mother-in-law Marjorie, who gradually established a pattern of visiting Scales from her home at Lake Rotoiti, with my lists in tow.

My questions and discussion points formed the basis of Marjorie's series of notebooks and letters but the conversations between the two women soon ranged far beyond my suggestions. All was recorded; described in Marjorie’s inimitable style, totally spontaneous, colourful and full of revealing detail and sympathetic observations.

Marjorie came to love the time she spent in company with Miss Scales. She admired her strong views on life and her dedication to art. She often quoted her – “You must hold on and hang on absolutely” was a favourite – as a woman to emulate and honour. And Miss Scales was loveable; her dignity could be formidable but she was completely without guile, tenacious and life loving with the most infectious laugh imaginable.

As a child she had been her father’s favourite, his "marvellous girl". As an older woman she was our "fabled friend", the one who brought mid 20th century European art and the plight of women artists, who often had to juggle family demands and work in the shadow of their male peers, into our lives on a very personal level.

- B de Lange, 2021

Builds it up.

If a sitter has a feature that she wishes to emphasise she sometimes finds it desirable to work around it – and eventually this feature, or characteristic emerges.

Bonnard.

His planes are not clean enough.

His spacing in not clearly defined. His women soft and spongy. Not a sharp enough definition between planes. – these are Miss Scales opinions only.

I have, and I do change my opinions at various periods in my painting life and Mr Willansky said “we do grow tired of a picture.” (a good thing makes room for new pictures - ) this added by Miss Scales.

I asked her if she worked a lot in the places where she lived in Germany or France. She said “no, because I always drew or painted from life and one needs a model – so I attended classes.

I asked her what happened to all these life drawings and paintings.

She said the paintings were stored and lost in Paris during the war, any drawings of that nature (nudes) she destroyed before she returned to N.Z. as they would not have been understood or appreciated by her mother or family or, for that matter anyone she knew here at that time. She knows of no one who might have one. “Darling Mummy, she would not have understood”

Consider this ‘life’ work important and valuable as it all assisted her with landscapes etc

Now she stresses that one should never throw anything away –

Thursday

I wish I could draw the scene.

I arrived and she said she was tired – I thought oh dear – not again an abortive trip.

But we decided to go ahead and of course as soon as she began it was magical.

She is galvanised – sitting with her back to the window, sorting through her box of paints and brushes. beautiful brushes all have their brush heads bound with cotton thread to keep their shape. (round heads) She is having difficulty finding everything because of reading the labels. Theo has taken over (I am being invisible) he is is opening her tubes of paint. I wish I could draw the scene. She looks so elegant sitting as straight as a die – her thin, thin arms and hands must already be tired with holding her pallet and brush.

She is completely absorbed and it is sad really.

She asked me to remove “that awful pink candlewick bedspread that is in the background” –

There is too much light. The sun reflecting off the concrete path outside but she’s had a little pause and is now at it again.

She lasted about 40 minutes altogether by which time she had roughly blocked in Theo’s head – using what she called ‘light red’ a terracotta colour – direct on to her canvas board – lightly diluted with linseed oil. She had on her palette, this light red, ultramarine blue, and yellow ochre and some white but only used the red. 

She was exhausted – said every stroke was so important and she visibly bristles with concentration – She says “I aim to get the character”. This seems to be more important than anything and there is no doubt that she already had done this. 

She said she hoped we could come again the next day.

Friday 

She was looking very bright and ready to start, quite business like but charming to Theo who was told to rest whenever he felt like it. It’s sad that her eyesight is so poor. We helped to squeeze the colours on to the mahogany palette – which is a muddle of old dried up paints and she found it difficult to separate them and before long had them and all of her brushes mixed up. Uses light red, ochre and blue only – the white as yet untouched. The general colour so far is the terracotta colour. Like the red conté pencil – I would like to sit beside her and tell her where the colour she wants is – but although she gratefully allowed me on one or two occasions when I felt she was lost on the palette I didn’t like to intrude too often.

She’s really doing a sort of monochrome? perhaps later on more colour detail will come into it.

She is adoring it and looks ten years younger. 

The canvas board is 20” x 16” so she has no difficulty seeing what she’s doing on it – and Theo is sitting very close so she can see him too.

When she stops she is so tired that I have to lift her from the chair and take off her lovely old calico smock, and half carry her across to her bed and lie her down. Tidy her things up for her and then leave and we blow kisses to each other as I go out of the door.

She’s expecting us again tomorrow.

Saturday 

Started very late and she only painted for about 20 minutes. 

We took Theo’s camera and asked if she’d mind.

Here I made a stupid mistake – I was busy photographing her painting Theo that I forgot to take one of her work up to that stage.

This was tragic for today she has gone beyond the blocking in outline that was so decisive and interesting – she is sort of filling it in, and, to me, it looks as though she’s lost, because the colours are merging and hard for her to define. I could be wrong though. She spent ages just sitting studying Theo intently. 

Sadly, she’s always too tired to talk about it when she’s finished and of course we don’t talk when she’s working.

I would like to ask her if she uses Light Red for any particular reason for her initial shaping of the subject on the canvas.

Went to London to study horses (and dogs).

Calderon’s School of Animal Painting for 2 years. After attending this school she decided she’d done all she could with the study of horses – and was drawn instead to people – and became interested in humans – their skin colours etc.

Went with her father and lived with a v. nice family Turnham Green. Father came to England on business always once a year.

This year – year before the Panama Canal opened. She and her father walked about viewing the almost completed canal. Stopped at Columbus? Then by steamer up to New York – went across America by train (took a week) to San Francisco. Left with her Uncle Horace. Timber man, lived in a beautiful small house there – dear wife who was blind.

This Uncle H. took her on a riding tour in the Yousemete [sic Yosemite] Valley, no riding skirt.

Went to Miss Bowen’s school. Amargh St about 60 girls, boarders 1900 [1903-1904]. Here she went as a schoolgirl – from Wgtn [Wellington]. This Bowen a daughter of a clergyman.

Here a gap in time.

Barbi [de Lange] has been to visit her and photographed her work. We’ve had another sitting  and because we worked in the afternoon, because she now gets up so late in the morning. The light and heat was dreadful and we think she realised that she can’t see well enough and I suggested that perhaps she would like to give up the project. She said that yes in the meantime until she felt fitter this would be advisable, but that she would leave it on the easel and look at it and perhaps do some on it from memory.

I’ve called very briefly twice this week – took Barbi’s letter and read it today. She was very pleased to get it and has no objection to her visiting the Dowse and Turnbull. Says she has no jurisdiction over her work held there now.

Today she was wearing an elegant dress that she said her Russian friend Madam? Made for her in France. Blue grey silk – with full sleeves gathered into a cuff at the wrists. Classic

She talks a lot about how hard her work at painting has been. That she’s read little – compared herself to other artists – like ballet dancers whose whole lives are dedicated towards one goal – trying to improve, endlessly.

After Southern Trip.

White house (3 houses joined together) appear to be over the sea. She said was highly priced by a critic. Yellow beach, beyond a low flat bush. About Hocken painting done in Cornwall. She thinks it was a boarding house [Boarding House, St Ives, Cornwall [1] [BC060]].

Bobbie lives at Bry-sur-Marne – she thinks she probably did the interior in his studio – is there a dog in it? About painting Barbi mentioned that she liked at the Turnbull [Bry-sur-Marne [BC040]]

She has just celebrated her 95^th birthday – a large cake beside her bed – covered with bright yellow icing and coloured chocolate “buttons”

We talked about Picasso whose work she loves. She described s work of his that especially delighted her, black and white of a woman (possibly a man in it too) in which the legs were just foreshortened blocks of wood – but nevertheless gave the impression of legs.

She listened whilst I read Barbi’s letter about her visit to the Turnbull and Peter McLeavey and is quite agreeable for him to supply Barbi with the catalogue a list of buyers names of the exhibition of her work.

She often emphasises the aloneness dedication of being an artist.

She was laying flat on her back on her bed all the time I was there but when lunch time summonsed her she rose to sitting position with a flat back without the support of her arms!

I took her a tin of sardines which she had told me was a favourite delacy [sic delicacy] of hers and the staff will give them to her to have with bread and butter.

She is clearly a favourite with the staff who treat her with great respect and affection.

In spite of her almost formidable dignity she has no false modesty. Always calls “come in” cheerfully when I knock and is quite undismayed and unembarrassed if she happens to be in a state of undress or even on her commode.

When I remarked on her popularity with the staff she said that was a girl she had to do a lot of housework and feels she appreciates what it entails and is always careful not to make demands.

She often refers to the difficulties that a woman artist must have to cope with if she is a mother and housewife.

Today she recalled a Miss Gwen Knight who was of the few other students who worked with her in D Kizenger’s [sic E.D. Kinzinger] classes. Said she was either a N.Z. or Australian – now dead. Spoke as though they met later in Paris and how reading Francis Hodgkins life I see that in this book (McCormacks) [Portrait of Frances Hodgkins by E.H. McCormick, 1981] on page 115 there is a picture of Gwen Knight reproduced – done by F.H. at St Tropez in 1931…when I think Miss Scales was there at that time too. Francis Hodgkins must have been about 17 years older than Miss S.

[Note the following entry is in Barbi de Lange’s handwriting.]

Marjie telling me about F.S.

That Miss S, very grateful that she hasn’t had to look after house and family – could devote her time to her paintings 3hrs am and pm.

Re Toss W.

She very proud that she has never had to teach – found idea that she would be his mentor offensive – she is a painter.

Very loyal about her father, although she wasn’t kept in plenty but denies that he kept her short.

She has told M. [Marjorie] about her life drawings which she destroyed because “darling mummy wouldn’t have understood”

In answer to Barbi’s question contained in her letter April 28^th as to whether Hoffman’s [sic Hofmann] school has separate classes for women – her reply was hard to define she went into a disruption about how, in Germany at the time “Money was tight” the school “impoverished” – classes almost non-existent. But that 2 years later it flourished. (her idea of time however is unreliable).

She was certain that her own teacher K…? [Kinzinger] had mixed classes of men and women. But then went on to say that when she was in England there were classes separately for women at times.