AN ENGLISH CUBIST

WILLIAM ROBERTS:

The Gutter

Illustration © The Estate of John David Roberts. Catalogue information based on the catalogue raisonné by David Cleall. For this and full details of the exhibitions cited, see the links below. Any auction prices quoted may not include all fees and taxes, such as VAT and Artist's Resale Right charges.

The Gutter (split as The Playground and Skipping after Toledo 1942 exhibition?), 1934– 5
The Playground : Oil on canvas, 144 cm x 152.4 cm
Skipping : Oil on canvas 144 cm x 70.5 cm

According to the Tate Gallery 1965 catalogue, 'William Roberts says that he made this exceptionally large picture because he had heard that artists were being commissioned to paint pictures for a new Cunard or P&O liner . . . and that representatives of the shipping company were visiting artist's studios to look at their work' (p. 16). P&O do not seem to have been commissioning luxury liners in the early 1930s, so this probably refers to Cunard’s Queen Mary, built in 1931–6. However, The Gutter would not seem to fit with the ship's designers' intention that 'the rooms whilst perfectly satisfying to the most cosmopolitan conceptions of culture and good taste will at the same time convey atmosphere of restfulness and comfort' (RMS 'Queen Mary' Guide to Accommodation, quoted in Abbie N. Sprague, 'Modern Art Takes to the Waves', Apollo 554 (May 2008), pp. 58–67) . The Tate catalogue also says that 'The canvas was divided into two after its return from the USA as it had been slightly damaged and also because Roberts decided that it would not sell on such a scale . . . The picture was painted at Haverstock Hill in 1934–5 and signed and incorrectly dated 1936 when divided years later'.
PROVENANCE: Ernest Cooper > Tate Gallery (T02346 and T02347)
EXHIBITION HISTORY: Lefevre Gallery 1938 (300 gns), Pittsburgh 1938, New York 1939, Toledo 1942, Tate Gallery 1965 and tour, Worthing 1972, Liverpool 2001, Chichester 2007