TATE BRITAIN CAMDEN TOWN GROUP AND PETER DOIG
The Camden Town Group paintings look good in reproduction.
In actuality, the paint surfaces are somewhat disturbing.
Best work was obviously done by Walter Sickert, whose nudes were recently on display at the Courtauld Gallery. There is authority and confidence in his painting and thought provoking images of interiors, both domestic and places of entertainment. There is a beautiful painting of pierrots in pink costumes, side view of them performing on a stage, out of doors, at Brighton.
Some pictures have paint so very thick and treacly the consistency gets in the way of appreciating the image.
Beautiful late work by Spencer Gore of Richmond Park, done just before he died, apparently from pneumonia caused by painting outdoors in winter.
The main artists are Spencer Gore, Harold Gilman, Robert Bevan, Charles Ginner and Walter Sickert.
Peter Doig
I much prefer the earlier work, but even this is obviously 'pretty' because of the bright, flickering lights and sparking blacks and deep blues. The later work seems to be merely a wish wash of paint pigments, as if he is starting ideas which have been discarded.
