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Artist sketching woman in the street

Maker

(artist)
1864-1903

Title

Date of Production

1894

Medium

graphite, pen and black ink on wove paper, inlaid into a historic mount which also retains its cover

Dimensions

Height: 29.4 cm
Width: 24.6 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.3821

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Phil May’s spontaneous line and minimal background contrast vividly with the carefully worked drawings of his contemporaries. His free and lively style influenced a generation of black-and-white illustrators to follow. In his witty but sympathetic manner, May stereotypes Londoners of the street, a social group given little attention by contemporary illustrators such as George du Maurier. Here, an artist, most probably May himself, encounters a large and overbearing woman — judging by her outfit, probably a shopkeeper or street vendor.

Provenance

Sotheby's (London), 18 April 1946, lot 75 or 85 (with D.1952.RW.3820); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b (mount, now removed); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Special Display - Characters and Caricatures, Late Victorian Illustration, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 10/02/2011-08/06/2011

Cartoonists of the British School, East Kent and Folkestone Arts Centre, Folkestone, UK, 16/03/1968-20/04/1968

Some British Drawings from the Collection of Sir Robert Witt, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1948

Literature

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 34

Some British Drawings from the Collection of Sir Robert Witt, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1948
no. 56

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: upper right, black ink, signed and dated: "PHIL MAY 94."; another black ink inscription at lower centre edge trimmed away so only ascenders visible. Verso: centre, graphite, large, underlined: "No 77"; lower right corner, graphite, circled: "136". Mount (historic), Recto: lower centre margin, black ink over graphite (erased): "Type. (to artist. who is making a sketch): "Well, p'raps you'll know / me agin when you see me." / Artist.: "No, not if you wash your face." / Phil May". Inner mount (removed, cut down and now in conservation file) graphite: "Philip William May (Phil May) / British 1864-1903 / Signed 'Phil May 1894 / Open"; graphite: "3821 Arts Council Exh. 1948/9". Overmount (removed, now cut down and in conservation file): graphite, circled: "136"; graphite: "Read with while"; graphite, cut off: "L L - 11 /8 x 9 p".

Collector's mark: Overmount (removed, see photo), Recto: lower left corner, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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