Letters from Iris Murdoch to Harry Weinberger
TitleLetters from Iris Murdoch to Harry Weinberger
ReferenceKUAS80
Date
17 Jun 1977-17 Jan 2000
Production date 1977-06-17 - 2000-01-17
Scope and ContentLetters written from Iris Murdoch to Harry Weinberger from 1977 to 1996. The letters are in files grouped by the drawer in which Harry Weinberger kept them in his desk. The letters discuss subjects such as their shared interest in arts, and both of their work.
The collection also contains a number of additional items relating to Iris Murdoch's friendship with Harry Weinberger, collected by Weinberger.
The collection also contains a number of additional items relating to Iris Murdoch's friendship with Harry Weinberger, collected by Weinberger.
Extent8 boxes
Archival historyThe collection of letters was written from Iris Murdoch to Harry Weinberger from 1977 to 1996, and was kept by him in his house in Leamington Spa. He also collected other items relating to her including press cuttings and items relating to his exhibitions. These remained in his home until after his death, and they were then donated to Kingston University by his daughter, Joanna Garber.
Persons keyword Iris Murdoch, 1919-1999, author, Harry Weinberger, 1924-2009, artist
SubjectCorrespondence, Art
Admin. history/BiographyIris Murdoch was born in Dublin, Ireland on 15 Jul 1919. When she was very young Iris and her parents moved to London, where Iris attended the Froebel Institute in Roehampton and Badminton School in Bristol. She followed this with studies in classics, ancient history and philosophy at Oxford, and further study at Cambridge. During the Second World War Murdoch worked for HM Treasury in London and then joined the UNRRA, providing relief in formerly occupied countries in Europe. In 1948 she became a fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford, where she taught and researched philosophy.
Iris Murdoch wrote a number of tracts on philosophy, however it is for her novels that she is best known. She wrote 26 novels in total, her first being 'Under the Net' published in 1954. Other notable works include 'The Bell' and 'The Sea, the Sea', for which she won the Booker Prize in 1978. Her final novel, 'Jackson's Dilemma', was published in 1995.
Iris Murdoch had romantic relationships with a number of individuals. She met author and scholar John Bayley while at Oxford and they married in 1956.
Later in life Murdoch was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the first effects of which she had attributed to writer's block. Iris Murdoch died in 1999.Harry Weinberger was born in 1924 in Berlin, Germany. His family fled to Czechoslovakia in 1933, and he was later sent by them to England in 1939. After some years in England, including a time in the British Army, Weinberger studied at Chelsea School of Art. He then went on to become an art teacher, as well as being an artist in his own right.
Weinberger's work was very colourful, and mostly featured exterior and interior scenes. He occasionally painted portraits, one being of Iris Murdoch, a long time friend whom he met in the 1970s. Weinberger maintained a correspondence with Murdoch until her death in 1999, and they regularly visited art galleries together. Murdoch was a great supporter of Weinberger, owning a number of his paintings, and writing introductions to catalogues for exhibitions of his work.
Weinberger had a number of exhibitions in the UK and Europe, including regular shows at the Duncan Campbell Gallery in London.
Harry Weinberger was married to Barbara, who died in 1996. They had one daughter.
Levelfonds
