6pm Thursday 18th January – Saturday 10th February 2018
NOTE: Nothing will be sold before the Exhibition opens at 6pm on Thursday 18th January
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These watercolours by the basket weaver and East London Group member Henry Silk (1883-1948) are hung alongside paintings by recent artists who have lived and worked in the East End. We are grateful to The Gentle Author, of the much read, much loved Spitalfields Life Blog, who has selected the works, all of which appear in his latest publication …
EAST END VERNACULAR
Artists who painted London’s East End streets in the 20th century
… one of the Evening Standard’s best London books of 2017.
“Complimenting the display of watercolours by Henry Silk (1883-1948), it is my great pleasure to curate a room of some favourite paintings from my book EAST END VERNACULAR, Artists who painted London’s East End streets in the 20th century.
While Henry Silk was one of the leading figures of the East London Group in the thirties, I have chosen works by post-war and contemporary artists who took the legacy forward. My selection includes a picture by Roland Collins from the fifties, rarely seen works by John Allin and Dan Jones from the seventies, Doreen Fletcher’s and Peri Parkes’ paintings from the eighties and concludes with recent works by James Mackinnon and Nicholas Borden.
Together these pictures – many never seen publicly before – illustrate an extraordinary and vital continuum of painting in the East End which spans the twentieth century and extends into our own time”.
– The Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life
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HENRY SILK (1883-1948)
1. SILK Henry (1883-1948) ‘Victoria Park Boat Houses’. Watercolour. Lightly squared for possible oil painting. Circa 1930. Signed. Signed and inscribed verso. Provenance: Artist’s family by descent. 4.5x7.25 inches. Framed: 13x15.5 inches. ● 
2. SILK Henry (1883-1948) The railway from Rownton Road, Bow. Watercolour. Circa 1930. Provenance: Artist’s family by descent. 4.5x10 inches. Framed: 13.5x18.5 inches. ● 
3. SILK Henry (1883-1948) Pond, Victoria Park. Watercolour. Circa 1930. Signed. Provenance: Artist’s family by descent. 4.5x10 inches. Framed: 13.5x18.5 inches. ● 
4. SILK Henry (1883-1948) Street scene, Bow. Watercolour. Circa 1930. Signed. Provenance: Artist’s family by descent. 4.5x10 inches. Framed: 13.5x18.5 inches. ● 
5. SILK Henry (1883-1948) Two Swans, Victoria Park. Watercolour. Circa 1930. Signed. Provenance: Artist’s family by descent. 4.5x10 inches. Framed: 13.5x18.5 inches. ● 
6. SILK Henry (1883-1948) Bow street. Watercolour. Circa 1930. Signed. Provenance: Artist’s family by descent. 4.5x10 inches. Framed: 13.5x18.5 inches. ● 
7. SILK Henry (1883-1948) Summer Camp. Watercolour. Circa 1930. Signed. Provenance: Artist’s family by descent. 4.5x10 inches. Framed: 13.5x18.5 inches. £750 
8. SILK Henry (1883-1948) A Summer House. Watercolour. Circa 1930. Signed. Provenance: Artist’s family by descent. 4.5x10 inches. Framed: 13.5x18.5 inches. £750 
9. SILK Henry (1883-1948) Bow. Watercolour. Circa 1930. Signed. Provenance: Artist’s family by descent. 4.5x10 inches. Framed: 13.5x18.5 inches. ● 
10. SILK Henry (1883-1948) Bow back garden, possibly Rownton Road. Watercolour. Circa 1930. Signed. Provenance: Artist’s family by descent. 4.5x10 inches. Framed: 13.5x18.5 inches. £750 
11. SILK Henry (1883-1948) The Kursaal, Southend. Watercolour. Circa 1930. Signed. Provenance: Artist’s family by descent. 5.5x8.5 inches. Framed: 14.5x16.5 inches.● 
12. SILK Henry (1883-1948) East London houses. Watercolour. Circa 1930. Signed. Provenance: Artist’s family by descent. 4.5x10 inches. Framed: 13.5x18.5 inches. ● .
EAST END VERNACULAR
COLLINS Roland (1918-2015) Fish Barrow, Canning Town. Gouache. 1950s. Signed. 15x21 inches. £3,850. 
JONES Dan (b.1940) Brick Lane. Oil on board. Signed and dated, 1978. 43x27 inches. NFS 
ALLIN John (1934-1991) Playground. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated, 1968. 36.25x40.75 inches. £4000 (+ 4% ARR) 
FLETCHER Doreen (b.1954) Bartlett Park. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated, 1990. 16x20 inches. NFS 
PARKES Peri (1958-2009) Condor Street. Oil on board. c.1980. 16x24 inches. NFS 
FLETCHER Doreen (b.1954) Bus Stop, Mile End. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated, 1983. 16x20 inches. NFS 
BORDEN Nicholas (Contemporary) Three Colts Lane. Oil on board. 2013. 30x12 inches. £950. 
MacKINNON James (b.1968) London Fields, Night. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated, 2004. 11x8 inches. NFS The exhibition follows our 2016 exhibition Henry Silk – East London Still Lifes, and our 2012 exhibition The East London Group, the first of the group’s work since the 1930s, which launched David Buckman’s wonderful and extensive study From Bow to Biennale: Artists of the East London Group. In recent years there have also been East London Group Exhibitions at The Bow Arts Trust and at Southampton City Art Gallery.