Thread 1: Paolozzi
Or the bloke on the wall next to Sofi's
Welcome to the very first Leith Thread, drawing together the almost-hidden delights and design of Leith.
We start with the Paolozzi mural on Henderson Street, pictured here in the snow on Tuesday 9 February 2021.
Eduardo Palozzi was born in Leith in 1924. His father ran an ice-cream shop. This mural, by Fife artist Russell Ian Dempster, is on the frontage of another former ice-cream shop (but not the one that belonged to Papa Paolozzi).
Paolozzi trained at Edinburgh College of Art as well as Ruskin Drawing School and the Slade in London. One of the founders of the Pop Art movement (although he rejected the term and considered his work an expansion of radical surrealism), he has numerous public works displayed in Edinburgh.
The Manuscript of Monte Cassino has returned to its place in front of St Mary's Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh, next to John Lewis. The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Modern 2, displays Paolozzi's Studio. As a teenager I had Paolozzi's Sack-o-Sauce on my bedroom wall.
Dempster created the mural on Henderson Street using a fractured portrait he made of Paolozzi. The work was commissioned by Leith Late in 2014.
Say hi to Eduoardo next time you come down to the Shore, and learn more about Paolozzi in Judith Collin's outstanding biography. This is an affiliate link and I may receive a small commission by you clicking and making a purchase.
Next thread, next week, we will be decapitating monks. Nonetheless, please add hello@leithreads.com to your safe senders list. You can also send to a friend and share your thoughts here or on Twitter.
Persevere with your observations,
KC x
One of his pupils when he taught at Hamburg School of Art was Stuart Sutcliffe of the Beatles, who was born at the Simpson maternity hospital and spent his infancy in Chalmers Street.
His father s ice cream shop was at St Bernard Street, Leith. Named Michelangelo's I visited there and was fascinated by the paintings depicting the Sistine chapel. I cannot be sure but may have been painted by EP himself. My introduction to Michelangelo and a life time finding out more and eventually visiting Vatican city, Rome.