William Roberts, R.A.

Oil on canvas, signed and dated

Sale, Christie's London, 7th June 1985, lot 57
Arenski Gallery, London
Sale, Sotheby's London, 14th October 1987, lot 203
Private Collection
Peter Nahum, London, where acquired by the late owner

London, Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition, 1976, cat. no.294.

Original canvas, the canvas undulates slightly in the lower right and left corners. There is very minor surface dirt, with some isolated traces of surface matter in the lower left quadrant. This excepting the work appears in very good overall condition. Ultraviolet light reveals no signs of fluorescence or retouchings. Housed in a thick gold-painted frame. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
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Roberts was continually drawn to uproarious environments that hummed with energy and social interaction: from his early days frequenting the Café Royal and The Tower with Wyndham Lewis, to later in his life when he spent hours of the day walking around his neighbourhood in Primrose Hill, taking continual observational notes. He had a keen eye for detail and examination, and using the distinctive style he developed between the wars, was able to articulate the intricacies of social interaction through gesture and facial expression. Located on Coventry Street in the heart of Soho, the boisterous atmosphere, the packed noisy interior, the movement and the hustle and bustle of the crowds at the Wimpy Bar, one of the first so called ‘fast food’ or hamburger restaurants in London, provided the perfect stimulus for Roberts.

Here the artist’s lively documentary quality is in full play, and we see how he is able to create outstanding visual interest out of every day and familiar occurrences. Typical for Roberts, the composition has a rigid structure, the painting is visually divided into two friezes, the wooden counter and wallpapered wall framing and separating a group of working chefs from ordering patrons. The stylized chef's hats have particular visual appeal, creating a diagonal grid work of interlocking tubes. Roberts' ability to manage a densely packed composition is a stylistic quality carried over from his Vorticist days and here is on full display: the chefs themselves, with their red Wimpy logos, are a controlled cluster, clumped in a pyramidal shape around the central figure’s triangular body, each active in their own way, keeping up with the dinner rush. In front of them sits a group of ladies and Roberts carefully builds the sense of movement by ensuring that the viewer’s eyes are never allowed to settle in one spot, forcing our gaze to zigzag through the group. The lady in the pink top with rather striking bright blue eye shadow, gestures and attempts to make eye contact with the chefs, providing a connection between the two groups. From there we move cyclically around the table from the lady enthusiastically requesting more drinks, to the blonde with a menu query, to the maroon suited waiter- the picture of attentiveness, to the lady actively gesticulating, perhaps describing what sort of burger she’s after.