A princess remembered

Part of the ashes of Her Serene Highness Princess Marsi Sukhumbhand Paribatra, who died almost two weeks ago at her home in the mountain-ringed town of Annot in the south of France, were interred yesterday at the royal cemetery of Wat Ratchabopit in Bangkok, the repository for the ashes of royal family members. 

The 82-year-old daughter of His Royal Highness Prince Chumbhot of Nagor Svarga and MR Pantip Paribatra has spent most of her life abroad and is little known in her homeland, was as internationally celebrated painter who often exhibited in Paris and Provence. Her paintings are sophisticated, fanciful and eccentric, with Greek mythology and Renaissance architecture merging with surreal landscapes. Partial paralysis by a stroke in 2004 brought an end of her painting career.

A simple and quiet funeral was held in Annot, where she had lived for more than 40 years, and attended by a small group of her relatives including MR Jisnuson Svasti and Bangkok governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra. Part of her ashes were scattered in her beloved mountains of Annot while some were dropped in Vaire River, which runs through the town.

Princess Marsi was educated at Bangkok's Mater Dei School and in Switzerland, France and Spain, earning PhDs in literature at the University of Paris and in art history from the University of Madrid. She lectured on Far Eastern civilisation at her alma mater in Madrid and on art history at Chulalongkorn University until she fell in love with the charms of Annot.

She built her studio in 1970 and named her home Vellara, which doubles as an aviary and has birdcages and nests in every corner. The birds fly freely from corner to corner and cats and dogs are allowed to roam too. Unsurprisingly, the assemblage of animals form the key figures in her fanciful works.

Before falling ill, the princess made clear her wishes to establish a charitable foundation, but French law made this difficult. Her cousin MR Jisnuson came to the rescue and helped to set up the Marsi Foundation in Thailand in 2009 to take care of her paintings and arrange exhibitions in Thailand with the aim of raising funds for students and artists as well as to help animals in need. 

Forty-nine years after her last exhibition in Bangkok, the first show titled “Marsi” organised by the foundation was held in 2010 in Siam Paragon’s Hall of Mirrors, though the princess was unable to make the trip home with her works. Early January, the second show “L'art de Marsi” was organised at the Queen’s Gallery showcasing 45 paintings out of the 107 from the foundation's collection as well as six works from the private collection of Her Majesty the Queen.

Although the Princess showed her artistic talent as a child, she did not take up serious studies in painting until the age of 30. She was a self-trained artist and learned from the masterpieces in the museums and was also advised on proper methods and techniques by some of her artist friends. She wrote with her left hand but has always wielded a brush with her right. 

“She started to paint in the era when surrealism was in full bloom in France. But she was not like many surrealists whose works are anti-high society; instead they reflect her philosophy. Princess Marsi once said ‘Art is a reflection of life and death and I try to interpret this in my way’,” noted Atidtaya Kulmony, adviser to the Marsi Foundation.

“Her home is a menagerie of cats, dogs, chickens and other birds – her animal models. She feeds more than 100 birds in her studio and has a shield over the easel to keep off the bird droppings. While painting, Princess Marsi plays classical music and when the sound hits a high pitch, these birds will flap their wings and fly around just like in a fantasy movie.”

The Princess learned much from the Renaissance masters, and she began by focusing on rock textures in contrasts of light and shade, not unlike those seen in Da Vinci’s work. A series that followed, in which different flowers combined to form images of parrots, was inspired by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, famed for his portraits of human composed of fruit. From Bosch, Titian, Botticello and Bellini, Marsi learned composition, posing and the delicate rendering of elaborate costumes. In Joseph Redoute’s work she discovered botanical accuracy, right down to foreshortening the petals of a blossom.

“Le Mariage mystique de Noui-Noui” is considered Marsi’s masterpiece – a scene of an extravagant wedding party for her beloved pet, a Saint Bernard named Noui Noui. The assemblage of animals, the natural background and the architecture surrounding Noui Noui and his owner are brilliant.

 

 

SURREALISTIC SPLENDOURS

>>Learn more about life and work of Princess Marsi at www.MarsiFoundation.org.