The Camden Town Group in Context

ISBN 978-1-84976-385-1

John Doman Turner Letter to James Bolivar Manson 26 January 1937

John Doman Turner 'Letter to James Bolivar Manson' 26 January 1937
John Doman Turner c.1873–1938
Letter to James Bolivar Manson 26 January 1937
Tate Archive TGA 806/1/928
John Doman Turner became involved with the Camden Town Group through his friendship with Spencer Gore, who taught him in a series of thirty letters from 1908 to 1913. Doman Turner was shy and unsure of his abilities, however, which probably led him to resign his membership of the London Group soon after it was formed on 27 November 1913 (TGA 806/10/6). Shortly afterwards Gore died and Doman Turner did not maintain close ties with many of the group. In this letter Doman Turner requests the return of some of his catalogues and for Manson, who was then Director of the Tate Gallery, to ‘kindly remember me to my artistic friends’. See also TGA 806/1/927, TGA 806/10/6 and TGA 806/10/6.

Helena Bonett
August 2011

Transcript

[Handwritten:]
63, Downton Avenue, Streatham Hill, S.W.2.
 Jan 26th 1937
Dear Manson
  Catalogues
(1) A.A.A. (2) Carfax. (3) London Group (2) = 4.
 Just a line in haste to hope you are quite well, & to ask when I may hope to expect the above to be returned?
 If you have not already done so, may I ask you to get one of your assistants to copy out the references you require? There cannot be very many.
 Without giving you the least trouble & should the opportunities occur, may I ask you to kindly remember me to my artistic friends? I never hear from any of them & hope they are all well.
 Wishing you cordially a most happy & prosperous New Year.
   Yours faithfully
    J. Doman Turner
P.S. Should you be returning them at once please take great care in posting, as they cannot be replaced, & I value them all very highly.

How to cite

John Doman Turner, Letter to James Bolivar Manson, 26 January 1937, in Helena Bonett, Ysanne Holt, Jennifer Mundy (eds.), The Camden Town Group in Context, Tate Research Publication, May 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/camden-town-group/john-doman-turner-letter-to-james-bolivar-manson-r1104563, accessed 03 July 2024.