AN ENGLISH CUBIST

WILLIAM ROBERTS:

Hanging a Masterpiece

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.

Hanging a Masterpiece, 1934
Pencil and watercolour, 35 cm x 43 cm

'Made as a satire on commercial art galleries, with particular reference to Alex. Reid & Lefevre [where Roberts exhibited in 1935 and 1938]. The sign in the background is inscribed "Lennui Galerie Peinture Moderne (French Only)", and the dealer is holding up a picture frame with the figures 33 1/3% [the gallery's commission rate]' – Tate Gallery 1965 catalogue. The kneeling figure may represent Tom Honeyman, whom Roberts dealt with at the gallery.
PROVENANCE: Wilfrid Evill (Mar. 1948, £25) > Miss Honor Frost (1963) > private collection, London (2011)
EXHIBITION HISTORY: Brighton 1965, Tate Gallery 1965