WALTER RICHARD SICKERT AND THE THEATRE, C.1880-C.1940 William W. Rough A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2010 Full metadata for this item is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/1962 This item is protected by original copyright Walter Richard Sickert and the Theatre c.1880-c.1940 William W. Rough Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Art History University of St Andrews 5 July 2010 Declarations I, William W. Rough, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 83,935 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in [July, 2003] and as a candidate for the degree of PhD Art History in [July, 2003]; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between [2003] and [2010]. Date 11/06/10 signature of candidate ………………………….……………………. I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of ………………… in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. date ……………………… signature of supervisor ………………………………………….…… In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews we understand that we are giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. We also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. We have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic publication of this thesis: Restricted access to the electronic copy for a period of 5 years and a permanent embargo to the images on the electronic copy on the following ground: publication would preclude future publication; date …………… signature of candidate ……………… signature of supervisor …………… i Abstract Prior to his career as a painter, Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1940) was employed for a number of years as an actor. Indeed the muse of the theatre was a constant influence throughout Sickert’s life and work yet this relationship is curiously neglected in studies of his career. The following thesis, therefore, is an attempt to address this vital aspect of Sickert’s œuvre. Chapter one (Act I: The Duality of Performance and the Art of the Music-Hall) explores Sickert’s acting career and its influence on his music-hall paintings from the 1880s and 1890s, particularly how this experience helps to differentiate his work from Whistler and Degas. Chapter two (Act II: Restaging Camden Town: Walter Sickert and the theatre c.1905-c.1915) examines the influence of the developing New Drama on Sickert’s works from his Fitzroy Street/Camden Town period. Chapter three (Act III: Sickert and Shakespeare: Interpreting the Theatre c.1920-1940) details Sickert’s interest in the rediscovery of Shakespeare as a metaphor for his solution to the crisis in modern art. Finally, chapter four (Act IV: Sickert’s Simulacrum: Representations and Characterisations of the Artist in Texts, Portraits and Self-Portraits c.1880-c.1940) discusses his interest in the concept of theatrical identity, both in terms of an interest in acting and the “character” of artist and self-publicity. Each chapter analyses the influence of the theatre on Sickert’s work, both in terms of his interest in theatrical subject matter but also in a more general sense of the theatrical milieu of his interpretations. Consequently Sickert’s paintings tell us much about changing fashions, traditions and interests in the British theatre during his period. The history of the British stage is therefore the backdrop for the study of a single artist’s obsession with theatricality and visual modernity. ii Acknowledgements First I would like to thank my supervisor, Robin Spencer, for his mentorship, consistent advice and encouragement throughout this project. His generous guidance, assistance and support have been invaluable. I would also like to thank the School of Art History at the University of St Andrews; particularly Dawn, Margaret and Lynn who were always most helpful with any queries and difficulties. Thanks are also due to the students of the AH3901: Walter Sickert and European Art c.1880-c.1940 course who indulged my experimental theories. A number of institutions and individuals have been invaluable in my research; key amongst these are the staff of the Victoria & Albert Theatre Museum Archives, The British Library, The National Library of Scotland, the Mander and Mitchenson Theatre Collection, Tate Archives, Islington Public Library Archives and Glasgow University Library. Special thanks are due to Helen Grime of the Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies Archive in the Martial Rose Library at the University of Winchester, Matthew Sturgis for the kind sharing of his transcripts of Sickert’s letters to Alfred Pollard and Ronald Pickvance for his extremely generous advice and time. In addition, I would not have been able to complete my studies without financial help from a number of sources, in particular the Royal Caledonian Schools Trust, the Dundee Educational Trust and the Sutherland Page Trust. Finally, I would like to thank my family, especially my mum Violet, and Ann and George, for their consistent support and encouragement. Special thanks go to Gill without whom I could not have completed this project. iii Table of Contents Declarations i Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents iv List of Illustrations vi Introduction: “All the greater draughtsmen tell a story” 1 Act I: The Duality of Performance and the Art of the Music-Hall 13 - The Birth of Mr. Nemo 17 - The Actor, the Butterfly and the Ox 29 - Actor & Painter: The Divided Self 47 Act II: Restaging Camden Town: Sickert and the theatre c.1905-c.1915 49 - Sickert and the Beginnings of the “New Drama” 58 - Antoine, Barker and the New Drama 67 - New Drama and the “Woman Question”; Independent Women, Adultery and the Marriage Problem 81 - ‘Awful Dads’ and ‘Manipulative Mothers’ 93 - Naturalism and the Working Class 102 - Visual Theatricality in Camden Town 115 Act III: Sickert and the Stage: Interpreting the Theatre c.1920-1940 124 - Shakespeare and the Twentieth-Century Stage 131 iv - William Poel and Harley Granville-Barker: The Rediscovery of Shakespeare c.1900-c.1914 136 - Lilian Baylis, John Gielgud and the Old Vic: Shakespeare c.1914-c.1936 142 - Interpreting the Theatre c.1920-1940: I 154 - Interpreting the Theatre c.1920-1940: II 173 Act IV: Sickert’s Simulacrum: Representations and Characterisations of the Artist in Texts, Portraits and Self-Portraits c.1880 - c.1940 176 - Walter Richard Sickert in Portraits and Novels c.1880 - c.1940 181 - Sickert and the Ripper Murders; Accusations, Incriminations and Misinterpretations 190 - Sickert’s Studio; shady suburbs, dingy dwellings and the convenience of costume 197 - Sickert Reborn: The Fall of Walter and the Rise of Richard Sickert 212 - “Identity-formation” in Texts, Portraits and Self-Portraits c.1880-c.1940 224 Conclusion: Walter Sickert and the Theatre c.1880-c.1940 228 Appendix I 231 Appendix II 234 Appendix III 236 Selected Bibliography 238 Illustrations 278 v List of Illustrations Act I: The Duality of Performance and the Art of the Music-Hall Fig. 1.01: Arrangement in Black, No. 3: Sir Henry Irving as Philip II of Spain by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), 1876, revised 1885. Oil on canvas, 215.3 x 108.6 cms. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gary Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre, Manet/Velázquez: the French Taste for Spanish Painting (New York: Yale University Press, 2003), 267 (cat. 223). Fig. 1.02: Photograph of Walter Sickert by unknown photographer, 1880. Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies Archive, Martial Rose Library, University of Winchester. Fig. 1.03: Photograph of Walter Sickert by unknown photographer, undated (c.1905- c.1910?). Walter Richard Sickert Collection, London Borough of Islington, Libraries Department, X59 X210 SIC (WR) ACC X1715. Fig. 1.04: Le Danseue Verte (The Green Dancer) by Edgar Degas (1834-1917), 1880. Pastel and gouache on paper, 66 x 36 cms. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid. Anna Gruetzner Robins & Richard Thomson, Degas, Sickert and Toulouse-Lautrec: London and Paris 1870-1910 (London: Tate Publishing, 2005), 65 (fig. 20). Fig. 1.05: Mlle. Bécat au Café des Ambassadeurs by Edgar Degas, c.1877-85. Pastel over lithograph on paper, 23 x 20 cms. The Pierpoint Morgan Library, New York. Anna Gruetzner Robins & Richard Thomson, Degas, Sickert and Toulouse-Lautrec: London and Paris 1870-1910 (London: Tate Publishing, 2005), 65 (fig. 21). Fig. 1.06: Répétition d’un Ballet sur la Scène (The Rehearsal of the Ballet on Stage) by Edgar Degas, c.1874. Pastel over brush-and-ink drawing, 53.3 x 72.3 cms. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.