Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009):
The Fun Fair at Newport, circa 1925
Framed (ref: 638)
Signed
Crayon, pencil and watercolour, 11 3/4 x 17 in. (30 x 43 cm)
See all works by Stanley Lewis crayon pencil watercolour Highlights of 20/21 Art Fair leisure Golden Generation Murals ex catalogue RCA Stanley Lewis Revisited
Literature: The Unknown Artist: Stanley Lewis and his contemporaries, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum, 12th June - 5th September 2010, Liss Fine Art, 2010.
Provenance: from the artist's own collection.
Exhibited: The Unknown Artist: Stanley Lewis and his contemporaries, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum, 12th June - 5th September 2010., cat no.13
This composition, intended as a study for a larger work, was inspired by the Fun Fair which came to Newport twice yearly. Stanley recalled that he frequently took his sketch book to 'capture the excitement, the movement, the hurley-burley music-the happiness of people escaping from reality'. Some of the character studies were made at Portobello Road.
Stanley was much inspired by the teaching and facilities of the Royal College of Art and was quick to find his own distinctive voice. His characterization of figures - verging on, but stopping short of, caricature - was to define his most distinctive work from this point on.