WILLIAM ROBERTS RA (1895-1980)

William Roberts RA (1895-1980), Study for ‘TV’, 1960. Jerwood Collection. (c) the Estate of David John Roberts, courtesy the William Roberts Society

Study for ‘TV’, 1960

pencil and watercolour on paper, lightly squared for transfer
25.4 x 45.7 cm

This work on paper is a study for TV, a large 1960 oil which William Roberts sold directly to Aberdeen Art Gallery in 1960. In both works Roberts has created a dynamic composition in which a group of figures, together with an appropriately chosen boxer dog, crowd in front of a black and white television set to watch a boxing match. Both works share the same dynamic composition emphasised by the figures leaning towards the television set and a couple of clenched fists suggest the fight has reached a tense moment.

Provenance
Purchased by Mr and Mrs Jarosz at the 1971 exhibition, and by whom bequeathed to the previous owner in 2019.
Anonymous sale: Christie’s, London, 22 January 2020, lot 165, where purchased.

Exhibited
London, Hamet Gallery, Wiliam Roberts: A Retrospective Exhibition, February - March 1971, no. 69.
Welbeck, Harley Gallery, Coast, Country, City, August - November 2021.




 

 

 

Lara Wardle