Martin Beek will examine the working lives of the groundbreaking artists of the Camden Town Group and their leader Walter Sickert. It was an extraordinarily rich period with remarkable artists such as Robert Bevan, Harold Gilman, Charles Ginner, Spencer Gore and, not least, Walter Sickert.
 

The first Post-Impressionist exhibition at London's Grafton Galleries, organised by Roger Fry, sets the context for this exciting period. Walter Sickert’s leadership and connections with European art are crucial to our appreciation of the paintings created between 1911 and 1913. These talks cite other painters such as Ethel Sands and Anna Hope Hudson, names often forgotten from this brief artistic flowering in London before the outbreak of the Great War.
 

Martin will examine works from the Ashmolean’s rich collection, alongside some of the familiar locations such as music halls and particular streets that feature in their work. The talks also recognise the Group’s ongoing legacy.

Martin will provide a list of helpful books and links to further explore on a PDF following each of the talks via the class information page.