Kenneth Macpherson
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Macpherson was born in Scotland, 27 March 1902, the son of Scottish painter, John 'Pop' Macpherson and Clara Macpherson. Descended from 6 generations of artists, Macpherson was a novelist, photographer, critic and film-maker. It is only in recent years that Macpherson's contribution to cinematography has come to be recognised with the re-discovery of his work, which, though limited in output, was far ahead of its time, both in subject matter and cinematic technique. His 1930 film, Borderline
, is now vey much part of the curriculum in the study of modern cinematography today. In his work with the Pool Group
(1927–1933), which he co-founded with Bryher
and HD, Macpherson also established the influential film journal, Close Up.
A sexual partner, common to both Bryher and Macpherson, was the American poet, Hilda Doolittle (known in literary circles as "HD"). Doolittle had been a close friend of Bryher's since 1921. They had a lesbian relationship, spending a lot of time together in Riant Chateau, Territet, Switzerland, where Bryher had a house. Not long after their marriage, Macpherson and Bryher moved to Territet, later joined by Doolittle, who brought along her 9 year old daughter, Perdita. (Perdita's father was Cecil Gray
, the Scottish music critic and composer). In 1928, Doolittle had a sexual relationship with Macpherson, becoming pregnant by him. The pregnancy would be aborted later that year. In the same year, Macpherson and Bryher
formally adopted Perdita, registering her name as Frances Perdita Macpherson.
In September, 1931, Macpherson and Bryher moved to a new home at Burier-La-Tour, which they had commissioned Hans Henselmann to build. The home, which overlooked Lake Geneva, came to be known as Kenwin, derived from the names, Kenneth and Winifred, and would double as a film studio and home, not only for themselves, but also for an assortment of dogs, cats, and monkeys. Bryher gave her address, at the time, as Villa Kenwin, Chemin de Vallon, 1814 Burier-La-Tour, Vaud, Switzerland. (During the war years, Bryher would use Kenwin as a staging post for the evacuation of refugees from Nazi Germany.)
, the theories on human behaviour of Sigmund Freud
in Vienna and the innovation of Soviet and German 'montage cinema'. Macpherson would identify with this new thinking and hope to contribute. In 1927, together with Bryher and Doolittle, Macpherson co-founded the Pool Group. Realising that their ambitions would be stifled by British censorship and the social prejudices of the time, the group re-located to Switzerland. There, they could fully consider sensitive taboo issues and investigate the means of successfully transferring these thoughts onto celluloid. It was during this period in Switzerland that Macpherson would produce his main work, the film, Borderline. At the time, however, the film received a lukewarm reception from the critics, and Macpherson would archive the film in a 'bottom drawer', where it would lie dormant for the next 53 years.
. Their subject matter would be human behaviour, and its many facets, and their task would be representing this behaviour on screen, influenced by the work of Freud.
and Robert Beavers
. In all, Macpherson made three short films, Wing Beat, Foothills and Monkeys' Moon, one main feature, Borderline and co-produced Hans Richter
's Dreams That Money Can Buy
.
(1930), originally believed to have been lost, was re-discovered by chance in Switzerland in 1983. The silent film with English inter-titles, dissected race and gender relations and was centred on a love triangle, featuring Paul Robeson
and HD. It attempted to delve into the mental states of its characters using the technique of 'montage', based on Eisenstein's film theories. The film confused and bewildered critics leading the London Evening Standard's Clive MacManus to advise Macpherson "to spend a year in a commercial studio" before attempting something as difficult again. Deeply upset by the film's hostile reception, Macpherson archived his film and withdrew from film directing. In 2006, the British Film Institute sponsored the restoration and eventual DVD release of Borderline
, revitalizing interest in Macpherson's work.
, a wealthy American art collector, who instantly fell in love with him. In 1944, in New York, he co-produced Hans Richter
's avant-garde compendium, Dreams That Money Can Buy
, the project being financed by Macpherson and Guggenheim
.
. Bryher supported her husband and his friend on Capri, requesting that they take into their home the aging Norman Douglas
, the Scottish novelist. Douglas had been friends of Bryher and Macpherson since 1931. Macpherson remained on Capri until Douglas's death in 1952, writing an epitaph for Douglas, from which the Latin inscription, on Douglas's gravestone, is derived (Omnes Eodem Cogimur).
Macpherson then moved to Rome, where he published his third novel, 'Rome 12 Noon'. In 1965, he 'retired' to Tuscany to work on his new book about Douglas's Austrian doctor, the Viennese born, Dr. Elisabeth Moor. Moor was Capri's doctor from 1926 until the early 1970s and was one of the island's more colourful characters. The book would eventually be published in 1975 under the title, 'An Impossible Woman – Memories of Dottoressa Moor' with a preface, notes and epilogue by the English writer, Graham Greene
.
Macpherson died in Cetona on 14 June 1971, leaving everything, including his inheritance from Douglas, to De Courcy Lyons.
ISBN 225301656X (ISBN13: 9782253016564)
Borderline (1930 film)
Borderline is a 1930 film, written and directed by Kenneth Macpherson and produced by the Pool Group in Territet, Switzerland. The silent film, with English inter-titles, is primarily noted for its handling of the contentious issue of inter-racial relationships, using avant-garde experimental...
, is now vey much part of the curriculum in the study of modern cinematography today. In his work with the Pool Group
Pool Group
The Pool Group were a trio of interwar period artists, filmmakers and poets consisting of Hilda Doolittle, Kenneth Macpherson and Bryher . Their work has been studied by poetry and film historians as well as by scholars of mysticism, feminism, psychoanalysis and LGBT history...
(1927–1933), which he co-founded with Bryher
Bryher
Bryher was the pen name of the novelist, poet, memoirist, and magazine editor Annie Winifred Ellerman. She was born in September 1894 in Margate. Her father was the shipowner and financier John Ellerman, who at the time of his death in 1933, was the richest Englishman who had ever lived...
and HD, Macpherson also established the influential film journal, Close Up.
Personal life
Little is known of Macpherson's early life, the pre-Pool Group period, although much is made of his post-Pool Group years, which appear to have been colourful. One commentator goes as far as to disingenuously identify, for interested parties, the source of 'a lurid description of his personal life during his New York years'. Macpherson's story began in 1927, when he married English writer, Annie Winifred Ellerman, (known as Bryher in the literary world), the daughter of a British shipping magnate. Bryher's inherited fortune would help to finance Macpherson's projects. Although Bryher's and Macpherson's marriage lasted for twenty years, for much of the marriage, both Macpherson and Bryher had extra-marital affairs. Bryher was lesbian but Macpherson was distinctly bi-sexual.A sexual partner, common to both Bryher and Macpherson, was the American poet, Hilda Doolittle (known in literary circles as "HD"). Doolittle had been a close friend of Bryher's since 1921. They had a lesbian relationship, spending a lot of time together in Riant Chateau, Territet, Switzerland, where Bryher had a house. Not long after their marriage, Macpherson and Bryher moved to Territet, later joined by Doolittle, who brought along her 9 year old daughter, Perdita. (Perdita's father was Cecil Gray
Cecil Gray
Cecil Gray was a Scottish music critic and composer. He published books on the composers Jean Sibelius, Peter Warlock and Carlo Gesualdo, the last of these co-authored by the same Warlock; also a history of music, collections of essays on music, a play about Gilles de Rais and an autobiography.He...
, the Scottish music critic and composer). In 1928, Doolittle had a sexual relationship with Macpherson, becoming pregnant by him. The pregnancy would be aborted later that year. In the same year, Macpherson and Bryher
Bryher
Bryher was the pen name of the novelist, poet, memoirist, and magazine editor Annie Winifred Ellerman. She was born in September 1894 in Margate. Her father was the shipowner and financier John Ellerman, who at the time of his death in 1933, was the richest Englishman who had ever lived...
formally adopted Perdita, registering her name as Frances Perdita Macpherson.
In September, 1931, Macpherson and Bryher moved to a new home at Burier-La-Tour, which they had commissioned Hans Henselmann to build. The home, which overlooked Lake Geneva, came to be known as Kenwin, derived from the names, Kenneth and Winifred, and would double as a film studio and home, not only for themselves, but also for an assortment of dogs, cats, and monkeys. Bryher gave her address, at the time, as Villa Kenwin, Chemin de Vallon, 1814 Burier-La-Tour, Vaud, Switzerland. (During the war years, Bryher would use Kenwin as a staging post for the evacuation of refugees from Nazi Germany.)
Background
It was the late 1920s, and race, sex and mental illness were decidedly taboo subjects for cinema audiences; cinematography was just a tool for the use of Hollywood moguls in the production of lucrative films for mass entertainment. The stage was being set, though, for a challenge on this 'phoney' world with new thinking individuals springing up to present alternative ideas. Film-makers were being influenced by the philosophy of the Frankfurt SchoolFrankfurt School
The Frankfurt School refers to a school of neo-Marxist interdisciplinary social theory, particularly associated with the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt am Main...
, the theories on human behaviour of Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
in Vienna and the innovation of Soviet and German 'montage cinema'. Macpherson would identify with this new thinking and hope to contribute. In 1927, together with Bryher and Doolittle, Macpherson co-founded the Pool Group. Realising that their ambitions would be stifled by British censorship and the social prejudices of the time, the group re-located to Switzerland. There, they could fully consider sensitive taboo issues and investigate the means of successfully transferring these thoughts onto celluloid. It was during this period in Switzerland that Macpherson would produce his main work, the film, Borderline. At the time, however, the film received a lukewarm reception from the critics, and Macpherson would archive the film in a 'bottom drawer', where it would lie dormant for the next 53 years.
The Pool Group
It was in 1927, from their base in Territet, that Macpherson, Bryher and Doolittle launched themselves as the Pool Group. Pool would veer away from the West's commercial model of film production, and produce material which would promote cinematography as an 'art form'. Their model would be based on the work coming out of Germany, particularly G W Pabst, and coming out of Russia, particularly Sergei EisensteinSergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
. Their subject matter would be human behaviour, and its many facets, and their task would be representing this behaviour on screen, influenced by the work of Freud.
The Close Up Film Journal
Also at Territet, Macpherson founded the influential film journal, Close Up, dedicated to "independent cinema and cinema from around the world". The first issue of Close Up, describing itself on the front cover as an "international magazine devoted to film art", appeared in July, 1927. Macpherson was editor, with Bryher as assistant editor, and Doolittle making regular contributions. Macpherson, who was particularly influenced by the Russian film-maker Sergei Eisenstein and whom he first met in 1929, "dictated the tone and direction of the publication, contributing articles that defined the role of the director and defended the integrity of cinema and its right to be considered as art". Close Up published many of the first translations of Eisenstein's ideas. Macpherson continued as the main editor until the magazine's demise in 1933.Films
Macpherson's films can best be summarised as presenting contentious issues using avant-garde experimental film-making techniques to represent emotional and psychological states of the human mind. "Macpherson's brilliance lies in his ability to photograph small movements as nuanced, meaning-producing gestures". His work would go on to influence future film-makers such as Nathaniel DorskyNathaniel Dorsky
Nathaniel Dorsky is an experimental filmmaker and film editor who has been making films since 1964. He intends that his 16mm silent films "create a state of prayer" not by treating Buddhism as a subject but by expressing "the view that comes from Buddhism".Dorsky was born in New York City,...
and Robert Beavers
Robert Beavers
Robert Beavers is an American experimental filmmaker. Born and raised in Massachusetts, he attended Deerfield Academy which he left before graduating to move to New York in 1965 to pursue filmmaking...
. In all, Macpherson made three short films, Wing Beat, Foothills and Monkeys' Moon, one main feature, Borderline and co-produced Hans Richter
Hans Richter (artist)
Hans Richter was a painter, graphic artist, avant-gardist, film-experimenter and producer. He was born in Berlin into a well-to-do family and died in Minusio, near Locarno, Switzerland.-Germany:...
's Dreams That Money Can Buy
Dreams That Money Can Buy
Dreams That Money Can Buy is a 1947 American experimental feature color film written, produced, and directed by surrealist artist and dada film-theorist Hans Richter.The film was produced by Kenneth Macpherson and Peggy Guggenheim....
.
Shorts
His first short film, Wing Beat (1927) was an investigation into telepathy and featured himself and HD in acting roles. The film survives only in fragments. Macpherson described the film as 'A study in thought... a free verse poem'. His second short, Foothills (1928), footage of which was discovered in 1979, concerns a city-woman visiting the countryside, with 'added psychoanalytic ingredients'. Nine minutes and ten seconds of footage, in 16mm black and white, exist of his third short film, Monkeys' Moon (1929), which featured Macpherson's 2 pet douracouli monkeys. This film was thought to be lost until the Beinecke Library of Yale University acquired a copy in 2008, where it was fully restored and digitized.Borderline
Macpherson's sole feature, BorderlineBorderline (1930 film)
Borderline is a 1930 film, written and directed by Kenneth Macpherson and produced by the Pool Group in Territet, Switzerland. The silent film, with English inter-titles, is primarily noted for its handling of the contentious issue of inter-racial relationships, using avant-garde experimental...
(1930), originally believed to have been lost, was re-discovered by chance in Switzerland in 1983. The silent film with English inter-titles, dissected race and gender relations and was centred on a love triangle, featuring Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
and HD. It attempted to delve into the mental states of its characters using the technique of 'montage', based on Eisenstein's film theories. The film confused and bewildered critics leading the London Evening Standard's Clive MacManus to advise Macpherson "to spend a year in a commercial studio" before attempting something as difficult again. Deeply upset by the film's hostile reception, Macpherson archived his film and withdrew from film directing. In 2006, the British Film Institute sponsored the restoration and eventual DVD release of Borderline
Borderline (1930 film)
Borderline is a 1930 film, written and directed by Kenneth Macpherson and produced by the Pool Group in Territet, Switzerland. The silent film, with English inter-titles, is primarily noted for its handling of the contentious issue of inter-racial relationships, using avant-garde experimental...
, revitalizing interest in Macpherson's work.
Dreams That Money Can Buy
After spending a few months in New York in 1935, Macpherson eventually based himself there to focus on writing, photography and his art collection. It was here that he met Peggy GuggenheimPeggy Guggenheim
Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim was an American art collector. Born to a wealthy New York City family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down with the Titanic in 1912 and the niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, who would establish the Solomon R...
, a wealthy American art collector, who instantly fell in love with him. In 1944, in New York, he co-produced Hans Richter
Hans Richter (artist)
Hans Richter was a painter, graphic artist, avant-gardist, film-experimenter and producer. He was born in Berlin into a well-to-do family and died in Minusio, near Locarno, Switzerland.-Germany:...
's avant-garde compendium, Dreams That Money Can Buy
Dreams That Money Can Buy
Dreams That Money Can Buy is a 1947 American experimental feature color film written, produced, and directed by surrealist artist and dada film-theorist Hans Richter.The film was produced by Kenneth Macpherson and Peggy Guggenheim....
, the project being financed by Macpherson and Guggenheim
Peggy Guggenheim
Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim was an American art collector. Born to a wealthy New York City family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down with the Titanic in 1912 and the niece of Solomon R. Guggenheim, who would establish the Solomon R...
.
Later life
In 1947, Macpherson returned from America, spending much of his time in Switzerland and Italy. He bought a home on Capri, "Villa Tuoro", which he shared with his lover, the photographer, Algernon Islay de Courcy LyonsAlgernon Islay de Courcy Lyons
Algernon Islay de Courcy Lyons was a notable Welsh photographer, novelist and linguist.Born in Langland, Glamorgan, Wales on 7 March 1922, the son of Captain John Algernon de Courcy Lyons, M.C. and Doris Ada Campbell Young. In his lifetime, he was normally just called Islay . Algernon Islay de...
. Bryher supported her husband and his friend on Capri, requesting that they take into their home the aging Norman Douglas
Norman Douglas
George Norman Douglas was a British writer, now best known for his 1917 novel South Wind.-Life:Norman Douglas was born in Thüringen, Austria . His mother was Vanda von Poellnitz...
, the Scottish novelist. Douglas had been friends of Bryher and Macpherson since 1931. Macpherson remained on Capri until Douglas's death in 1952, writing an epitaph for Douglas, from which the Latin inscription, on Douglas's gravestone, is derived (Omnes Eodem Cogimur).
Macpherson then moved to Rome, where he published his third novel, 'Rome 12 Noon'. In 1965, he 'retired' to Tuscany to work on his new book about Douglas's Austrian doctor, the Viennese born, Dr. Elisabeth Moor. Moor was Capri's doctor from 1926 until the early 1970s and was one of the island's more colourful characters. The book would eventually be published in 1975 under the title, 'An Impossible Woman – Memories of Dottoressa Moor' with a preface, notes and epilogue by the English writer, Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
.
Macpherson died in Cetona on 14 June 1971, leaving everything, including his inheritance from Douglas, to De Courcy Lyons.
Filmography
- Foothills (Fragments) (Switzerland 1927) Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Wing Beat (18 min. fragments) (Switzerland 1927) Museum of Modern Art, New York
- Monkeys' Moon (Switzerland, 1929)
- BorderlineBorderline (1930 film)Borderline is a 1930 film, written and directed by Kenneth Macpherson and produced by the Pool Group in Territet, Switzerland. The silent film, with English inter-titles, is primarily noted for its handling of the contentious issue of inter-racial relationships, using avant-garde experimental...
(Switzerland, 1928) 72min (BFI retail) - Dreams That Money Can BuyDreams That Money Can BuyDreams That Money Can Buy is a 1947 American experimental feature color film written, produced, and directed by surrealist artist and dada film-theorist Hans Richter.The film was produced by Kenneth Macpherson and Peggy Guggenheim....
(USA, 1947)
Publications
- Gaunt Island (Riant Chateau Territet, Switzerland 1927) Published by Pool.
- Pool Reflection (Riant Chateau Territet, Switzerland 1927) Published by Pool.
- Out Of The Air (1935) (Life And Letters Today; Editors,Robert Herring and Petrie Townshend)
- Rome 12 Noon (1964) New York, Coward-McCann
- Selected Reviews – Parker Tyler's View; Life And Letters Today (1936)
- Close Up – A Magazine Devoted To The Art Of Films (Ayer Co. Pub. (first published 1988) ISBN 0405007329 (ISBN13: 9780405007323)
- An Impossible Woman – Memories Of Dottoressa Moor (by Elisabeth Moor) (Preface, notes and epilog by Graham Greene) (London: Bodley Head, 1975; New York: Viking Press, 1976)
- La Dottoressa : Mémoires d'une femme impossible (by Elisabeth Moor, Kenneth Macpherson) (Graham GreeneGraham GreeneHenry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
, Georges Belmont, Hortense Chabrier) Le Livre de poche, 1977
ISBN 225301656X (ISBN13: 9782253016564)
- Omnes Eodem Cogimur – some notes written following the death of Norman Douglas
- Life And Letters Today – Review of George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's Keep The Aspidistra FlyingKeep the Aspidistra FlyingKeep the Aspidistra Flying, first published 1936, is a socially critical novel by George Orwell. It is set in 1930s London. The main theme is Gordon Comstock's romantic ambition to defy worship of the money-god and status, and the dismal life that results....
(1936)http://books.google.com/books?id=vhU6NEL_fzQC&pg=PA70&dq=kenneth+macpherson&hl=en&ei=ocOVTdXBOJGs8QOJ2aQX&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=kenneth%20macpherson&f=false