Harold Gilman
French Interior
(c.1907)
Tate
The present exhibition is devoted to Harold Gilman, who was the driving force of the Camden Town Group and first president of its successor, the London Group.
His whole progression is shown here, from the early sombre works which express homage to Velasquez, to the brilliant canvases of his last period which reflect the great impact of that historic Post-impressionist exhibition arranged by Roger Fry at the Grafton Galleries in the winter of 1910–11.
Gilman died in the searing epidemic of Spanish flu in 1919 at the early age of 43, and we clearly lost an English painter of great accomplishment whose potential achievements might have been at an even higher level.
He did much to fertilise and quicken painting in this country and in retrospect he emerges as a significant figure who, with his colleagues Spencer Gore and Charles Ginner, helped to break down the insularity of English painting and bring it into the main stream of European art.
PJ
