AT THE SLADE IN THE 1920s THOMPSON (Ernest Heber, 1892-1971, New Zealand-born Artist)

Amusing Signed Caricature Portrait in Pencil and Grey Wash of Philip Wilson STEER, (1860-1942, Assistant Professor of Painting at the Slade School of Art, 1893-1930), where Thompson was a student, signed and dated in the top right corner by the artist, showing Wilson Steer full length, three quarter face, in high collar, striped waistcoat and baggy jacket and trousers, walking towards the viewer, a huge body for a tiny head, the face well reflecting his kindly but reticent manner as a teacher, low down on either side the artist has sketched scenes of a fête champêtre, a medieval castle, a Spanish couple dancing, and a jester with a birdcage, 15" x 9", [Slade School, University College, London],

The face, in particular, recalls Thompson's drawing of men in the trenches made about 1916.
With an alternative (recent) suggested attribution to Helen Thorp, (b. 1871, née Syrett, wife, 1905, of Joseph Peter Thorp, 1873-1962), who had studied at the Slade at an earlier period, in the bottom right corner.
Provenance: From the papers of Mary Hope Allen, (1898-2001, Pioneer Radio Writer and Producer), also a student at this time.

Item Date:  1922

Stock No:  66235      £275

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