Sir John Lavery RA RSA RHA (1856-1941)
Chiswick Baths
Oil on canvas board, 51 x 61cm (20 x 24'')
Signed; also signed and inscribed verso

Provenance: Pyms Gallery, London 1983, label verso; Christie's,...

Sir John Lavery RA RSA RHA (1856-1941)
Chiswick Baths
Oil on canvas board, 51 x 61cm (20 x 24'')
Signed; also signed and inscribed verso

Provenance: Pyms Gallery, London 1983, label verso; Christie's, London, 8 November 1990, lot 51; de Veres, Dublin, 23 November 2004, lot 40, where purchased by the present owner.

Exhibited: Edinburgh, Society of Eight, 1929; P. & D. Colnaghi, London, Their Majesties' Court, Buckingham Palace, 1931 Studies and Other Sketches by Sir John Lavery RA, 1932, no.68, illustrated in exhibition catalogue; Pyms Gallery, London, Autumn Anthology, 1983, no.24; Fine Art Society, London, Sir John Lavery, 1984-85, no.104, with tour to Edinburgh, Belfast and Dublin.

Literature: Kenneth McConkey, John Lavery, A Painter and his World, 2010, p.241.

 

Alongside many prominent Irish artists, John Lavery spent time studying at the colony of Grez-sur-Loing where he developed his gentle, impressionist style. Such a technique is perfectly suited to the current subject matter, where delicately dabbed brushstrokes expertly capture the mood of a public bath on a summer’s day.

Lavery’s interest in swimming spots was awakened in the 1920s after visits to Monte Carlo and Palm Beach. On his return to London, he turned his attention to the Chiswick Baths which, happily, lay just a short drive from his studio on Cromwell Place.

Built in 1910, the Chiswick Baths were among several outdoor pools constructed during the Edwardian period. The modern two-tier changing rooms and lofty diving board added to the excitement of the baths, symbolising an exhilarating and innovative new era. Allowing mixed bathing, the Chiswick baths were particularly popular among London’s youth, providing a place to socialise and flaunt the latest fashions.

A playful exercise in colour, Chiswick Baths is a delightful expression of leisure in the first half of the 20th century. Lit from within with splashes of yellow, green and blue, Chiswick Baths exudes heat and leaves the viewer gazing tantalisingly towards the water’s edge. With smudges of pink to represent limbs, we are brought into a crowded scene in which we can hear the chatter of voices and rumbles of laughter.

Painted nineteen years after its construction, Lavery’s scene shows the baths as an established structure within the summer social calendar and documents a period of history which promoted pleasure, entertainment and luxury. With the closure of the baths in 1981, Lavery’s work now stands as a visual reminder of what was, re-awakening summer and a carefree culture at a single glance.

Helena Carlyle, May 2022

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