Sketch for “An Episode in the childhood of a Genius”
Artist
 193243.5 x 65 cms (17 x 26 ins)ProvenanceJ Beddington, Director of Wildenstein, Private collectionLabel Verso:The Arts Council of Great Britain, Belgrave Square, London SW1Four Contemporary British Painters(Leonard Appelbee, Claude Rogers, Ruskin Spear & Carel Weight)1947, No: 27Label Verso:Carel Weight, 5 Shepherds Bush Green, London W10Carel Victor Morlais Weight was born in Paddington, London in 1908. In his early childhood, he was sent by his parents to live with a foster mother, Rose Matkin. She was also his Godmother, who lived in the working-class district of Fulham. Weight would live with her during the week and was returned to his parents in a middle-class household at the weekends, making him acutely aware of the contrast between deprivation and affluence from an early age. Other early experiences of the unexpected, such as a burnt-down building or a bus mounting a pavement would also have an impact on his visual output as an artist in his later years.Weight studied at the local Hammersmith School of Art from 1928-30. It was here that he met Ruskin Spear, who became a great life-long friend. From 1931-1933, he was at Goldsmiths College, where he developed his imaginative composition under the tutelage of Gardiner, Mansbridge and Kokoshka. It was at this time that he met his future wife, Helen Roeder. They were together for 60 years before they married in 1990. He was able to support himself as an artist by becoming a teacher at The Beckenham School of Art from 1932 – 1939. In 1933 he hired a space in the Cooling Gallery, Bond Street to showcase his work for his first Solo Exhibition. He exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of British Artists and was a Committee Member of the Artists International Association, which helped artists fleeing Nazi Europe. He exhibited at many galleries throughout the UK, notably the Zwemmer Gallery and the New Grafton Gallery in London.During the Second World War, Weight was called up to the Royal Engineers. He taught with the Army Education Corps 1944-45 and was then helped by Kenneth Clark to be appointed as an official War Artist 1945-46. He travelled to Italy, Austria and Greece which he described as “a Scholarship from the Army”. On his return to London in 1947, he was invited to teach at the Royal College of Art. He became a Professor of painting there from 1957 – 1973, when he retired, and taught among others, David Hockney, R.B.Kitaj and Peter Blake. He executed a mural for the Country Pavilion of the Festival of Britain in 1951.He was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists in 1934, London Group in 1950, Royal Academy in April 1965 and as a Senior RA in 1984 and was awarded a CBE in 1962.Although seen as a rather solitary figure, he had close friendships with Stanley Spencer, Mary Fedden, L S Lowry, John Bratby & Jean Cooke. He is known to have been strongly influenced by Stanley Spencer and by the late 1950’s developed a deep interest in painting religious scenes. Weight said “Religion isn’t that important to me but it provides one with wonderful scenes”. By 1958 he had completed two major paintings of biblical subjects, Entry into Jerusalem and The Crucifixion, both of which are thought to have brought him the 1963 commission from Manchester Cathedral to paint a mural in the recesses of the stonework above the doors of the Chapter House. In its upper register, Christ is depicted with the people (in contemporary dress) in a dynamic gesture of benevolence. The background features a rural landscape (probably the Pennines) lit up by a colour-soaked sky.Carel Weight painted many portraits, street scenes and landscapes. Some of his work contains elements of humour whilst others are sinister or melancholic. He said “Even when I paint a landscape out of doors and I say I’m not going to put any figures in; when I get back to the studio I always paint in figures; it would be too lonely without people”. Each location was chosen specifically for its abstract structure. The places were real, but the figures often imagined and “grew under the brush”. Weight wrote that his art was “concerned with such things as anger, love, hate, fear and loneliness” and said “for me the acid test of a painting is: will the ordinary chap get anything out of this?”. He was a prolific artist and painted around 50 works per year.This work “sketch for an episode in the childhood of a Genius” is a study for the painting that was exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1933, (No: 100) and was instrumental in securing Weight’s first teaching job at Beckenham School of Art. It was seen by the painter Henry Carr, Head of Beckenham School of Art, who liked it and offered Weight a 2 day-a-week teaching position. (Carel Weight by Mervyn Levy, 1986, page 45). This study was painted in 1932 and was exhibited at the London Arts Council of Great Britain, entitled “Four Contemporary British Painters” (which were Leonard Appelbee, Claude Rogers, Ruskin Spear and Carel Weight) in 1947, (No: 27). Weight relates “At this time my mother told me a story of vital importance to my development as an artist. As a girl, she had clambered out of an upstairs window and made her way along a narrow, projecting ledge to a neighbour’s windowsill, tempted there by the bright blooms in a window box. People in the street saw her and were terribly worried about her falling, but somehow they got her back”. It introduced another subject matter – humorous fantasy – and he developed it with gusto. It was to become a constant in many avenues of Weight’s world. “That gave me an idea for a picture. I moved the scene to the outside of a pub and substituted a young lad who’d climbed up the inn sign and perched himself precariously on top. He was causing much consternation not only to the people in the pub but also among the crowd who’d gathered outside”. (R.V Weight, Carel Weight. “A Haunted Imagination”, 1994, page 21).Carel Weight died on 13 August 1997 at the age of 88.His works are held in many collections such as The Tate Gallery, The Victoria & Albert Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the UK Government Art Collection, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Royal Academy of Arts, the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, National Galleries of Scotland and the Vatican Museum. David Bowie bought the work “Laertes” 1979 as part of his private collection. ){kind=link}
Oil on Panel
Signed to label (attached Verso) 1932
43.5 x 65 cms (17 x 26 ins)
Provenance
J Beddington, Director of Wildenstein, Private collection
Label Verso:
The Arts Council of Great Britain, Belgrave Square, London SW1
Four Contemporary British Painters
(Leonard Appelbee, Claude Rogers, Ruskin Spear & Carel Weight)
1947, No: 27
Label Verso:
Carel Weight, 5 Shepherds Bush Green, London W10
Carel Victor Morlais Weight was born in Paddington, London in 1908. In his early childhood, he was sent by his parents to live with a foster mother, Rose Matkin. She was also his Godmother, who lived in the working-class district of Fulham. Weight would live with her during the week and was returned to his parents in a middle-class household at the weekends, making him acutely aware of the contrast between deprivation and affluence from an early age. Other early experiences of the unexpected, such as a burnt-down building or a bus mounting a pavement would also have an impact on his visual output as an artist in his later years.
Weight studied at the local Hammersmith School of Art from 1928-30. It was here that he met Ruskin Spear, who became a great life-long friend. From 1931-1933, he was at Goldsmiths College, where he developed his imaginative composition under the tutelage of Gardiner, Mansbridge and Kokoshka. It was at this time that he met his future wife, Helen Roeder. They were together for 60 years before they married in 1990. He was able to support himself as an artist by becoming a teacher at The Beckenham School of Art from 1932 – 1939. In 1933 he hired a space in the Cooling Gallery, Bond Street to showcase his work for his first Solo Exhibition. He exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of British Artists and was a Committee Member of the Artists International Association, which helped artists fleeing Nazi Europe. He exhibited at many galleries throughout the UK, notably the Zwemmer Gallery and the New Grafton Gallery in London.
During the Second World War, Weight was called up to the Royal Engineers. He taught with the Army Education Corps 1944-45 and was then helped by Kenneth Clark to be appointed as an official War Artist 1945-46. He travelled to Italy, Austria and Greece which he described as “a Scholarship from the Army”. On his return to London in 1947, he was invited to teach at the Royal College of Art. He became a Professor of painting there from 1957 – 1973, when he retired, and taught among others, David Hockney, R.B.Kitaj and Peter Blake. He executed a mural for the Country Pavilion of the Festival of Britain in 1951.
He was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists in 1934, London Group in 1950, Royal Academy in April 1965 and as a Senior RA in 1984 and was awarded a CBE in 1962.
Although seen as a rather solitary figure, he had close friendships with Stanley Spencer, Mary Fedden, L S Lowry, John Bratby & Jean Cooke. He is known to have been strongly influenced by Stanley Spencer and by the late 1950’s developed a deep interest in painting religious scenes. Weight said “Religion isn’t that important to me but it provides one with wonderful scenes”. By 1958 he had completed two major paintings of biblical subjects, Entry into Jerusalem and The Crucifixion, both of which are thought to have brought him the 1963 commission from Manchester Cathedral to paint a mural in the recesses of the stonework above the doors of the Chapter House. In its upper register, Christ is depicted with the people (in contemporary dress) in a dynamic gesture of benevolence. The background features a rural landscape (probably the Pennines) lit up by a colour-soaked sky.
Carel Weight painted many portraits, street scenes and landscapes. Some of his work contains elements of humour whilst others are sinister or melancholic. He said “Even when I paint a landscape out of doors and I say I’m not going to put any figures in; when I get back to the studio I always paint in figures; it would be too lonely without people”. Each location was chosen specifically for its abstract structure. The places were real, but the figures often imagined and “grew under the brush”. Weight wrote that his art was “concerned with such things as anger, love, hate, fear and loneliness” and said “for me the acid test of a painting is: will the ordinary chap get anything out of this?”. He was a prolific artist and painted around 50 works per year.
This work “sketch for an episode in the childhood of a Genius” is a study for the painting that was exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1933, (No: 100) and was instrumental in securing Weight’s first teaching job at Beckenham School of Art. It was seen by the painter Henry Carr, Head of Beckenham School of Art, who liked it and offered Weight a 2 day-a-week teaching position. (Carel Weight by Mervyn Levy, 1986, page 45). This study was painted in 1932 and was exhibited at the London Arts Council of Great Britain, entitled “Four Contemporary British Painters” (which were Leonard Appelbee, Claude Rogers, Ruskin Spear and Carel Weight) in 1947, (No: 27). Weight relates “At this time my mother told me a story of vital importance to my development as an artist. As a girl, she had clambered out of an upstairs window and made her way along a narrow, projecting ledge to a neighbour’s windowsill, tempted there by the bright blooms in a window box. People in the street saw her and were terribly worried about her falling, but somehow they got her back”. It introduced another subject matter – humorous fantasy – and he developed it with gusto. It was to become a constant in many avenues of Weight’s world. “That gave me an idea for a picture. I moved the scene to the outside of a pub and substituted a young lad who’d climbed up the inn sign and perched himself precariously on top. He was causing much consternation not only to the people in the pub but also among the crowd who’d gathered outside”. (R.V Weight, Carel Weight. “A Haunted Imagination”, 1994, page 21).
Carel Weight died on 13 August 1997 at the age of 88.
His works are held in many collections such as The Tate Gallery, The Victoria & Albert Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the UK Government Art Collection, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Royal Academy of Arts, the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, National Galleries of Scotland and the Vatican Museum. David Bowie bought the work “Laertes” 1979 as part of his private collection.