AN ENGLISH CUBIST

WILLIAM ROBERTS:

The Gutter

Illustration © The Estate of John David Roberts. Reproduced with the permission of the William Roberts Society. 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

The painting is signed and dated as 1936. However, the Tate Gallery 1965 catalogue says that Roberts painted it at Haverstock Hill in 1934–5 and 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 . . . 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' (p. 16).
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, Worthing 1972, Liverpool 2001, Chichester 2007