Lot 591: Walter Taylor (British, 1860-1943) Interior,

Walter Taylor (British, 1860-1943) Interior, Brunswick Square, Brighton oils on canvas, 19 ¼" x 23 ¼", gallery label verso. Provenance: with Michael Parkin Gallery, London. Purchased by Ted Few Esq. Walter Taylor was a close friend and contemporary of Walter Sickert and went to art school in Paris and at the Royal College of Art in London. Taylor was never a member of the Campden Town Group, but worked on the peripheries of Sickert's circle. Consequently his work was included in the significant Exhibition of the Work of English Post-Impressionists, Cubists and Others at the Brighton Art Gallery in December 1913-January 1914, organised by Spencer Gore. This exhibition marked an important transitional phase between the Camden Town and London Groups. In 1914 his connections with the avant-garde groupings were formalised on his election to the newly formed London group, which he served as Treasurer from 1916-18. However, his most important role arguably to the Fitzroy and Campden Town Groups was as a friend and patron. 'To be bought by Mr. Taylor was almost equivalent to receiving a mention in the despatches of contemporary painting' (Quoted in David Buckman, Brighton Yesterdays: Douglas Fox Pitt, 1864-1922, and Walter Taylor, 1860-1943, exhibition catalogue, Maltzahn Gallery, London 1973, [p.1]). His collection included most of the major British and continental avant-garde artists of his day. This painting probably dates from around 1910-1920 when Taylor was living and working in Brighton.