The Five Lives of Walter Sickert
Introduction
2022 has seen two major retrospectives of Sickert’s work - both at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, and Tate Britain in London. Back in January, I took a trip to Walker Art Gallery to see ‘Sickert: A life in Art’. I only recognised the name ‘Sickert’ from true crime, because of the alleged rumours that he was the infamous Jack the Ripper. To what extent was this true? Having little knowledge about Sickert’s life and work, I unwittingly walked into this exhibition, curious about this artist from history who I felt little attachment to. I spent almost two hours digesting the stages of Sickert’s life, and found that he had quite the atypical career. He was, in fact, a multifaceted character who had such a profound impact on art and artists during the turn of the 20th century.
Ennui (1914) by Walter Richard Sickert
Arguably Sickert’s most celebrated painting (and certainly my favourite). Ennui translates to ‘Boredom’ in French.
The Music Lover
You might know Sickert most famously for his portrait work, but did you know that his first source of artistic inspiration derived from his love for theatre at Camden’s Bedford City Music Hall? Having dabbled in and out of acting during his early career, Sickert turned to art to capture the theatrical architecture and bustling audiences, as well as iconic female performers at the time, such as Katie Lawrence, Vesta Victoria and Minnie Cunningham. The music hall was a microcosm of modern life, providing vibrant energy and musicality for Sickert to successfully capture through painting.
Gallery of the Old Bedford (1894 - 1895) Walker Art Gallery
Minnie Cunningham (1892) by Walter Richard Sickert © Estate of Walter R. Sickert / DACS Photo courtesy of Wendy Baron and Jonathan Clark & Co.
The Murder Painter
Whilst Sickert’s ‘old love’ for the music hall never ceased, his work became increasingly moody during the evolvement of his Camden Town Nude series. Following the harrowing murder of sex worker Emily Dimmock in1907, the spine-chilling motif of murder began to seep into Sickert’s work. His unconventional nudes were always engulfed in dim, dingy interiors, in an attempt to confront the dark sociopolitical reflection of sex workers - whose existence was deemed unethical at the time. Sickert’s ‘Mornington Crescent Nude’ details a haunting crime scene through paint: The woman who at first appears asleep, is staged on her bed completely naked and vulnerable, her neck visibly twisted to a point of discomfort. She is decorated in jewellery and makeup, her torso a ghastly shade of cadaver-green. In the bottom right hand corner is a man’s overcoat, draped over an empty chair - a menacing symbol of a presence in the room. Here we establish that the subject is an unfortunate victim - a representation of Emily Dimmock.
“...After all, murder is as good a subject as any other.”
Mornington Crescent Nude (1907) The Fitzwilliam Museum
The Suspected Ripper
You may or may not have heard the conspiracy theories accusing Sickert of being the notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper. These accusations are most famously charged by crime novelist Patricia Cornwall, but there’s no groundbreaking evidence to distinctly support this claim - in fact, it was unlikely to be true, as Sickert wasn’t in England at the time of the murders. But the connection between Sickert and Jack the Ripper is undeniable, and these paintings may sway your opinion on the matter:
Sickert painted ‘Jack the Rippers Bedroom’ in 1906-7, after a discussion with his landlady who believed that the Ripper originally rented the room before Sickert’s arrival. As you can see, the canvas is very sinister. A dark figure is engulfed in dingy architecture with their back facing towards us, peering through window slats to observe the street below. Was this characterisation of the ripper imagined by Sickert, or is it an eerily revealing self-portrait?
Jack the Rippers Bedroom (1906–1907) Manchester Art Gallery
Returning to Sickert’s violent Camden Town Nude series, it could be argued that some of Sickert’s works are confessional. Sickert was a lone artist exploring a disturbing subject matter - one which was grotesque and controversial during the early 1900’s. Could each brushstroke be riddled with guilt? Sickert’s ‘The Camden Town Murder’ (1909) portrays a fully clothed man, hunching on the bed of a similar crime scene to that of ‘Morning Crescent Nude’. His face is concealed as he hangs his head down, almost reflecting on the crime he has committed, or conversely, the crime he is about to commit. Sickert is toying with killer psychology through his composition, placing himself in the pensive position of a barbaric murderer.
The Camden Town Murder / What Shall We Do about the Rent? (1908) © Estate of Walter R. Sickert / DACS
The Women Supporter
From observing Sickert’s paintings through a dark and unsettling lens, this might paint a picture of the artist as an individualist, or an artist ‘gone rogue’. So it might surprise you to learn that Sickert was actually a man who loved networking, collaborating and teaching - with most of his students and lifelong friends being women artists. Sickert welcomed the likes of Sylvia Gosse, Anna Hope Hudson, Ethel Sands and Florence Pash into his circle, using his profile to raise awareness of their works. With this in mind, we can now reframe the Camden Town Nude series; perhaps Sickert was a social activist, using paint as form of protest to materialise awareness of crimes against women, in turn, forming a catalyst for societal change about the way we think and view women and women sex workers.
‘Tea with Sickert’ (1911-12) by Ethel Sands
‘Pas de Deux’ (after 1927) by Thérèse Lessore
To my delight, the exhibition showcased these works by Ethel Sands and Thérèse Lessore amongst a handful of others - a true testament to Sickert’s commitment to practicing women artists at the time.
The Collaborator
It is important to recognise the contribution of Thérèse Lessore (Sickert’s 3rd wife) whom he married in 1926 after 16 years of friendship in the art world. Sickert suffered a period of ill health shortly after their marriage, but within a year he had made a full recovery and marked an artistic rebirth by referring to himself as ‘Richard Sickert’. However, this period would only foreshadow his final decline just over ten years later in 1938. Even in sickness, Sickert never gave up his love of painting. But his health meant that he couldn’t paint alone, and Lessore became an instrumental part of Sickert’s art making process during these later years. Sickert’s late work cannot be viewed without imagining the force of Thérèse Lessore behind those breathtaking brushstrokes, collaboratively continuing the legacy of the artist and husband she adored so much.
Walter Richard Sickert and Thérèse Lessore. © Science & Society Picture Library / National Portrait Gallery, London
Bibliography
Moorby, N. (2006) The Camden Town Group In Context, Walter Richard Sickert [https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/camden-town-group/walter-richard-sickert-r1105345]
Sickert: A Life in Art (18 Sep 2021—27 Feb 2022) [exhibition] Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
Tickner, L. (2000) The Camden Town Group In Context, Walter Sickert: The Camden Town Murder and Tabloid Crime [https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/camden-town-group/lisa-tickner-walter-sickert-the-camden-town-murder-and-tabloid-crime-r1104355]
Upstone, R. (2009) The Camden Town Group In Context, Minnie Cunningham at the Old Bedford [https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/camden-town-group/walter-richard-sickert-minnie-cunningham-r1139296]
Illustrations
[1] Ennui (1914) by Walter Richard Sickert. [own photograph]
[2] Gallery of the Old Bedford (1894 - 1895) Walker Art Gallery. [https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/gallery-of-old-bedford]
[3] Minnie Cunningham (1892) by Walter Richard Sickert. © Estate of Walter R. Sickert / DACS. Photo courtesy of Wendy Baron and Jonathan Clark & Co. [https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/camden-town-group/walter-richard-sickert-minnie-cunningham-r1139296]
[4] Mornington Crescent Nude (1907) The Fitzwilliam Museum. [https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/mornington-crescent-nude-4661]
[5] Jack the Rippers Bedroom (1906–1907) Manchester Art Gallery. [https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/jack-the-rippers-bedroom-206026]
[6] The Camden Town Murder / What Shall We Do about the Rent? (1908) © Estate of Walter R. Sickert / DACS.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Camden_Town_Murder#/media/File:Sickert.jpg]
[7] Tea with Sickert (1911-12) by Ethel Sands. [own photograph]
[8] Pas de Deux (after 1927) by Thérèse Lessore. [own photograph]
[9] Walter Richard Sickert and Thérèse Lessore. © Science & Society Picture Library / National Portrait Gallery, London [https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw197037/Walter-Sickert-Thrse-Lessore]
