The Camden Town Group in Context

Walter Howarth (until at least 1941); ... ; purchased from Charles A. Jackson, Manchester, by Roland, Browse and Delbanco, London, September 1952, and presented to Tate Gallery.

This is a preparatory study for the oil painting L’Armoire à glace (Tate N05313). The artist chose a thin, cream-coloured laid paper of good quality, which has a part of its watermark in the top left-hand corner, reading only ‘Co.’ The measurements of the paper roughly correspond to 11 x 5 inches, which is inscribed in red ink in the top right-hand corner on the recto, although there is a further inscription, also in red ink, on the verso which notes ‘Reduce to 5 x 2½’. The top edge of the sheet retains its deckle edge and the remainder are cut straight. The image is drawn within a square of red ink that was marked by ruled lines along the bottom, left and right-hand edges, and trimmed along to create the current sheet. Sickert composed the image within the full dimensions of the area, first sketching in a graphic medium and then reinforcing these lines with ink. Initial drawing appears to have been executed in a very soft graphic medium that may have been blue or purplish in tone. The original extent of this drawing is not known although an undated photograph suggests that there were vertical lines in the foreground and background and lines indicating the hem and folds in the sitter’s skirt. It is possible that Sickert used crayon or chalk or traced the lines through carbon paper, making a very soft impression on the paper that was extremely vulnerable to abrasion and over time has been lost. The ink is very likely to be blue or black writing ink, although it has now faded to a warm brown colour. In places it has been applied with a fine pen in cross-hatched lines and in others has been heavily applied to block in areas of shadow.

This drawing appears to be an early preparatory sketch relating to the oil painting L’Armoire à glace 1924 (Tate N05313, fig.1) and the earlier etched version of 1922.1 In common with Ennui c.1914 (Tate N03846) and other earlier paintings of domestic interiors, the visual appearance of the painting developed across a sequence of images. A full list can be found in Wendy Baron’s 2006 catalogue.2 There are two preparatory sketches in Tate’s collection (Tate N05312, fig.2, and N06087). This study has been sketched rapidly in order to capture an impression of the composition. There is little detail and the cross-hatched lines added to indicate shading or tone have been blocked-in very roughly. The image omits the door that frames the view in the finished etching and painting.

In execution and detail the drawing is closest in appearance to two other sketches, Woman Sitting by a Wardrobe c.1922 (pencil and pen on buff paper, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool)3 and Study for ‘L’Armoire à glace’ or Prou[s]t’s Parlour c.1922 (pen and black ink on tan paper with squaring-up, private collection).4 In all three of these drawings the female figure appears thin and gaunt and is possibly a different model from that shown in the rest of the sequence. She appears to cower in the shadow of the room, partially hidden by the wardrobe. Her legs are stretched out before her and crossed at the ankle and her arms appear unnaturally long and stiff. In the Tate drawing, in particular, the head of the model is reduced to a skeletal white face peering from the gloom. In the more fully developed sketches, painting and etching the woman is stouter and more robust. Her hands are folded more comfortably across her lap and her feet are planted apart. This changes the mood of the piece so that the emotional effect is one of placid contentment rather than anxiety and unease.