The Camden Town Group in Context

This charcoal study depicts the head of a stableman just visible standing among horses. It is one of a series of related drawings within the same sketchbook (this sketch is on page 19 and the drawings are on pages 2–21 of the sketchbook). One other example from the series, Putting on a Horse Shoe (TGA 8915), is reproduced on this website. The on-the-spot drawings have been executed quickly, some in charcoal and others in pencil, and are rougher than the more polished sketching style evident in Drummond’s portraits (see, for example, TGA 8915). Another sketchbook in Tate Archive contains nothing but drawings of horses and stablemen, particularly of horses being shod (TGA 8915). The choice of subject invites comparison with the work of Drummond’s fellow Camden Town Group member, Robert Bevan, a painter well known for his depictions of working horses and stablemen. The sketchbook was made by C. Roberson & Co. Ltd, London. The sketch is tentatively dated c.1911 on the basis of a study of Charles Ginner also found within this sketchbook, relating to a portrait of the same year (TGA 8915).