The Camden Town Group in Context

Probably inherited from the artist in 1955 by Samuel Kerkham [S.K.] Ratcliffe (1868–1958), the artist’s brother, by whom presented to Tate Gallery the same year.

The Artist’s Room, Letchworth is painted on prepared paper marouflaged onto a paper plyboard. A handwritten ink inscription on the back reads: ‘Interior Sketch, W. Ratcliffe, 102 Wilbury Road’, describing the subject of the painting. The support is an off-white wove paper, which has been adhered to a paper plyboard which is slightly larger on all four sides.

The painting has the appearance of an oil sketch executed in situ. The paint is continuous to the edges on all four sides and pin holes in each corner pierce the paint indicating that the work was pinned up after painting. The technique is consistent with Ratcliffe’s other works in the Tate collection. There is some evidence of initial marking out in paint which was overlaid with opaque colour in contrasting coloured layers with areas of impasto. The paint is applied in directional strokes with the same size brush, following the contours of objects or spaces, and is stiff enough to retain the brushwork. Colour has been overlaid onto colour leaving the underlying hues exposed at the edges or beneath loosely applied paint. In some areas, such as the desk at the left and the hat, the artist has scrapped into overlying colour to reveal the colour beneath, probably using the end of the brush. The palette is extensive with a strong emphasis on warm purples, reds and oranges and little mixing. Spots of the primed paper are left unpainted at the edges of objects providing contrasting flecks of light across the surface. Where the directional light from the window is reflected from surfaces, such as the rug in the foreground and the area above the mantelpiece, the primed paper is left exposed in between opaque dashes of pure colour. Broad graphite lines in the foreground and painted outlines are used to delineate objects or compositional lines in the later stages of painting and the surface has been left unvarnished.

This picture shows the room where William Ratcliffe stayed at 102 Wilbury Road in Letchworth Garden City, the home of Stanley and Signe Parker and their family (figs.1–3). The house was specially designed for them in the Arts and Crafts tradition in 1908 by Stanley’s brother Barry Parker (1867–1947) and his partner Raymond Unwin (1863–1940), who were the key architects of Letchworth. It is now a Grade II listed building. The furniture shown in Ratcliffe’s painting is also in the Arts and Crafts style, and the scene overall reflects the relaxed, simple life that many people looked for in the Garden City.

Probably influenced by his mentor Harold Gilman and other Camden Town Group members such as Spencer Gore, Ratcliffe painted many interiors over the years. In Cottage Interior c.1914 (fig.4), as with the Tate work, blues and purples are used to accentuate the cool indoor atmosphere in contrast to the bright sunshine outside. Touches of complementary oranges and yellows are used to add warmth. In The Artist’s Room the bold red patterns in the rug, wall hanging and curtain further enhance the intimacy of the scene. Cottage Interior portrays a recently executed painting, Summer Landscape, Sweden 1913 (Government Art Collection),1 propped against the wall. In Tate’s painting the artist’s presence is felt through his hat, depicted on a small table at the centre left of the composition.

In a letter to the Tate Gallery in 1956, the Parkers’ daughter Lisa wrote that Ratcliffe made the picture during the period he stayed with them c.1932.2 He later stayed with the Parkers again from 1946 to 1954. Gilman had lived next door at 100 Wilbury Road for a time.

After 1921 Ratcliffe mostly made only drawings and watercolours, and so an oil of this later date is somewhat unusual.3 The freely handled use of paint and the sketchiness of the design is in distinct contrast to his earlier oils, of which Clarence Gardens (Tate T03359) is a characteristic example. According to his friend, the artist William Townsend, Ratcliffe particularly liked this work.4