In an ongoing process of discovery here’s yet another artist whose oeuvre is more interesting once you find out more about them.
I’m stating now that I won’t cover his nudes here as they are a whole other story, remaining controversial, even today. Look them up or visit the exhibition to see what I mean. I may cover them in another post if requested.
Much to my regret I was never taught to paint with oil (it was considered passé at the time) but something about Walter Sickert‘s work in this show at Tate Britain made me want to give it another go. The colouring, the softness, using shapes rather than lines to describe form.
You can see the difference between his drawing and painting below. It’s fascinating.
First working as an actor, Sickert had a lifelong fascination with the music hall. His interest was in the audience and architecture as much as performers and he would sketch on his lap to avoid being noticed.
Look at the economy of marks showing the hem of Minnie Cunningham’s dress and the front guard rail.
Initially greatly influenced by James Whistler (see this exquisite little etching of Venice below), his later work owed much to Degas
as you can see in this late self-portrait below. It looks massive and imposing yet is deceptively small.
