introductions of Post Impressionist and Modernist works in England. Organized by
English artist and art critic of the Bloomsbury Group, Roger Fry, the first of the two
exhibitions included all of the major figures from Manet through the Post
Impressionists and Proto-Cubists, including Cézanne, van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse,
Picasso and others. The show was a sensation, and though it was carefully selected
with only 200 works, had a significant impact on the English public, both on critics
and artists alike.
The second Grafton Show in 1912, which was visited by Kuhn and Davies at the tail
end of their loan acquisition trip through Europe, included Cézanne as the only Post
Impressionist and focused on Matisse (with 41 works) and Picasso (with 16). The show
also included a number of English and Russian Modernist works. Kuhn and Davies
were not impressed by the exhibition in terms of scale, scope or coherence, but they
still viewed the second Grafton Show as a similar exhibition to that which they
intended the Armory Show to emulate. Evidently the second Grafton Show was a
financial success, which Kuhn and Davies saw as a good omen, and they were also
impressed with the quality of some of the French works, not surprisingly those by
Cézanne and Matisse. Kuhn and Davies actually made requests to take works that
were exhibited in the Grafton Show to the Armory Show, much to Fry’s chagrin,
which resulted in the London show closing earlier than scheduled.
Only a handful of English artists where represented in the Armory Show, including
Walter Sickert (see lots 134-136), Augustus John (see lots 137 and 138), Jacob Epstein
(see lot 139), Alfred Stevens and George Clausen. Augustus John dominated the English
section with 44 works in total, most of which were drawings and paintings loaned by
John Quinn (seven were paintings lent by the artist himself). The English works were
included in Gallery R and G of the Armory Show and were largely overlooked by the
public and critics. Strangely enough, none of the members of the avante-garde
Bloomsbury Group were included and none of the more cutting-edge English Proto-
Cubists were included in the Armory, such as Wyndham Lewis and C.R.W. Nevinson.
Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942) was born in Munich and, in 1868, moved to
London were he would reside for the majority of his life. He spoke English, German
and French fluently, allowing him to move freely across Europe to travel and paint in
various locations. He initially trained as an actor but devoted his full attention to
painting in 1881 when he enrolled at Slade School of Fine Art. In 1882, he began
etching and painting under his mentor, James A. M. Whistler, who advised him to
leave Slade, stating “You’ve lost your money, no need to lose your time as well.” One
year later, he transported Whistler’s,
Portrait of the Artist’s Mother
, to the Paris Salon
and during the trip met Degas, who would prove an important influence on the
young Sickert. In 1887, Sickert began producing paintings, primarily scenes of British
music halls (see lot 136) which he would paint from drawings he made
in situ
. He
was counted among a group of artists from the New English Art Club that would
become known as the London Impressionists. From 1906 to 1910, he and a group of
like-minded artists including Spencer Gore, Charles Ginner, Harold Gilman, Lucien
Pissarro (eldest child of Camille Pissarro) and others would meet regularly at Sickert’s
home in Camden Town and form the Fitzroy Group, which became the Camden Town
Group; Sickert was represented in all three of their group exhibitions. Sickert was an
active writer and critic, and unlike his contemporaries Roger Fry and Clive Bell of
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