Eileen Schaer
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[edit] Eileen Schaer Biography - Contemporary Outsider Artist
Eileen Schaer was born in Liverpool in 1948 and educated by nuns until she was seventeen firstly at Broughton Hall Prep School situated in its own grounds with a lake, swans and an array of mature trees, this was to have a lasting impression on her young mind. At the age of twelve she moved to Notre Dame Grammar School, Mount Pleasant which was located near to Hope Street, Liverpool Art School and the Everyman Theatre. By the early sixties the Beatles and the ‘Mersey Sound’ was emerging on to the pop scene and the cavern club was the venue for such groups to perform in. Lunch time sessions were held and Eileen with her school friends would drop in and see the local groups and at times the Beatles perform live!
Eileen’s family are of Swiss/Norwegian origin. Her paternal grandfather came from Bern, he was a chef trained under Escoffier. When he moved to Liverpool he became head chef of the then fashionable Adelphi Hotel. Her maternal grandfather name of Larsen was from Bergen. His family were whalers.
Her father Otto and mother Lily ran the Beaconsfield Public house and Restaurant on the corner of North John Street and Victoria Street which was a stones throw away from the Cavern. Indeed the Merseyside groups notably the Beatles and Brian Epstein used it.
Somewhat of a dreamer at school her best subject was naturally Art. The academic road was not for Eileen. Hairdressing was considered but then a decision to go to Secretarial College at Millbank, Tuebrook was made where she spent one year before commencing a short lived career as a Typist for the Local Government in the Municipal Buildings.
By 1968 she was instinctively drawn to the Art Scene frequenting the ‘Philharmonic’, ‘The Crack’ and ‘O’Connors’ pubs, where the newly formed ‘Liverpool Scene’. Poets Brian Patten, and Adrian Henri and musicians Mike Evans (Sax), Andy Roberts (Guitar) and Dobbo on drums performed regularly.
It was at this time that Eileen met her future husband David who was an Art Student studying at the Liverpool School of Art. They were married in 1969 and Kim their daughter was born later that year. The following year encouraged by her husband Eileen began painting.
In 1971 they moved to London where David embarked on a three year MA course in Fine Art at the Royal College of Art. Eileen was to support their young family by working as a typist at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Geological and Science Museums; their daughter attended the College Creche then situated next to Kensington Gore.
Eileen continued to paint in the evening developing her craft and unique vision, which was spotted early on in her career by the Portal Gallery Directors, Lionel and Eric. Further success came with her acceptance into the Summer Royal Academy Shows. The Director of Halcyon Days – Susan Benjamin bought one of her paintings and offered to support her financially so that she could paint full time. Eileen declined her kind offer preferring to keep her own autonomy.
Chelsea College of Art and the Royal College of Art too offered her places on their Fine Art Courses but finance and instinct dictated that she remain a ‘free spirit’ independent of any institutions.
The Crane Kalman Gallery which was situated in Kings Road, Chelsea exhibited her work and she was featured in a small article in the ‘The Times of Chelsea, Knightsbridge and Belgravia.
After her husband graduated from the Royal College of Art they had to vacate the college hostels and move to the suburbs – Greenford. They both hated it there and having holidayed in the Isle of Man staying with friends in a Ballachrink Cottage above Ballaglass Glen they decided to move there in 1976 where David took up a teaching post in Douglas.
The following year they bought their first house a small cottage in the village of Laxey and a Springer Spaniel named Martha. Sam their son was born in December 1978 and Eileen took two years out from painting, although this did not prevent her from staging a small exhibition of her work and David’s in the village of Munchenbuchsee, Switzerland, (the birth place of Paul Klee).
On returning to painting in 1981 Eileen’s imagery changed there was a marked development in which she now felt confident enough to draw almost entirely from her imagination. The saturation of pattern was still evident and several large scaled works were to emerge.
In 1983, Eileen was selected by Noel Forster to exhibit in the Summer Show 2 at the Serpentine Gallery, London. The 80’s were a productive and successful time for Eileen being accepted in the Camden Annual 84, Tolly Cobbald Eastern Arts Touring Exhibition 85 a joint exhibition with her husband at the Atkinson Gallery in Southport 86 and the Athena Art Awards at the Barbican in 1987. Alongside this were numerous mixed exhibitions with the newly formed ‘Arts in Man’ – the gallery being a double decker bus which her husband had managed to purchase with an Arts Council grant for £500!
In 1986 there was a move from their cottage to a large Victorian house in Laxey called Mona Villa which had laid empty for six years and was in need of complete renovation this was to be ongoing for four years.
1987 marked the first of a number of visits from George Melly, the Art Critic and Jazz singer. A friendship was forged and George stayed in the family home when he gigged or lectured on the Island. He was to purchase one of Eileen’s paintings and wrote an article on her work for the magazine Raw Vision in 1998.
The start of the nineties commenced with an invitation to exhibit in the Inter Celtic Festival L’Orient, Brittany. At this time Eileen began to printmake – working prolifically in the evenings producing a large number of lino blocks. She became a member of the Printmakers Council exhibiting in numerous exhibitions, notably ‘Print Europe’ a touring exhibition which commenced at the Barbican followed by a slot at the Manx Museum. The Isle of Man Arts Council were to promote a solo show of Eileen’s Painting and Prints entitled ‘Mirrorred Images’ in conjunction with the Print Europe exhibition.
Eileen continues to printmake through the 90’s whilst exploring new mediums notably papier mache sculptures and watercolour painting. It is in fact her sculptures which first bring Eileen to the attention of Jane England of England & Co. She is to be included in two prestigious exhibitions, the first in 1996 – ‘Outsiders and Co’ followed by ‘Obsessive Visions, Art Outside the Mainstream’ in 2001.
Eileen has however always consciously and perhaps through necessity been somewhat of a ‘loner’ not wishing to belong to any particular school and refusing to be pigeonholed into any particular ‘ism’. This has at times been problematic in finding galleries that deal with work outside the mainstream. One such gallery the October Gallery were to stage an exhibition in 1999 entitled ‘Beauty Ravishes Me All Over Wherever I find it’. An intriguing show in which Eileen exhibits her black and white prints alongside the work notably of Shamans, Huichol Indians and Aborigines.
She continues to exhibit locally in the Isle of Man and is to be awarded first prize for one of her papier mache sculptures in the Singer & Friedlander exhibition staged at the Manx Museum in 1999.
A notable commission for a series of three paintings for the Stations of the Cross for St Germans Cathedral, Peel in the Isle of Man is produced in 2001. Metallic colours, silver and gold are sensitively and poignantly used in these little icons. Eileen is now concentrating primarily on Painting – both watercolours and acrylic on board. She is utilizing cupboard doors, old mirror frames and a variety of different mouldings. The painting as an object is now evident, silver and gold are used extensively. There is a further reduction of pattern and the drawing has become more apparent.
Eileen’s work is brought to the attention of Dr Colin Rhodes author of ‘Primitivism and Modern Art’ and ‘Outsider Art – Spontaneous Alternatives’. In 2003 he writes an extensive article ‘Les Revelations Intuitives d’Eileen Schaer’ which is featured in Creation Franche Magazine...
In 2004 Eileen is invited to represent the Isle of Man with a solo show of her paintings at the L’Orient Festival in Brittany. She continues to exhibit locally and stages the first of three solo shows (2001, 04 and 06) at the Courtyard Gallery in the Isle of Man. The Manx audience primarily used to traditional landscapes are invited to engage in imaginative works that explores new territory inviting a different way to look at the world. The shows are received very positively with several of her paintings being purchased for the hospital. A number of loyal collectors of her work continue to support her ventures and numerous new buyers have emerged.
[edit] Publications
Article ‘Les Revelations Intuitives d’Eileen Schaer’ featured in ‘Creation Franche’, by Dr Colin Rhodes , Autumn 2003
Represented in ‘Obsessive Visions, Art Outside the Mainstream’ Catalogue at England & Co, Westbourne Grove, London 2001
Sunday Telegraph, Pick of the Week, John McEwen, April 1999
Article, ‘Eileen Schaer’ Featured in ‘Raw Vision’ by George Melly , Summer 1998 (Won the UNESCO award the for the best Arts Magazine 1998)
Represented in ‘Outsiders & Co’ Catalogue at England & Co, Westbourne Grove, London, 1996
Represented in the book ‘Art of Man’ published 1996
[edit] External links
Eileen Schaer’s website:
celebrates her art, showcasing
Raw Vision is an international journal of intuitive and visionary art. Based in the United Kingdom and founded in 1989 as a twice-yearly journal, it has grown to become a full-color, internationally distributed, quarterly journal on most anything that falls under the umbrella term of "outsider art" -- art brut, folk art, naive art, and visionary art specifically. See Raw Vision Wiki page
