Lithograph on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/james-boswell-787" aria-label="More by James Boswell" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">James Boswell</a>
Cinema
Presented by Ruth Boswell, the artist's widow 2000
adults
audience
cinema
cinema
figure
groups
interiors
leisure and pastimes
music and entertainment
natural phenomena
people
places of entertainment
rays
shadow
<p>When Boswell joined the Communist Party in 1932 he gave up painting and began to produce graphics for mass reproduction. The prints shown here were made as a result of the many evenings and weekends that he spent exploring the streets and pubs of working-class London, especially in Camden where he lived.</p><p>Boswell was a founder member of the Artists International Association. This group of artists and designers was formed in 1933 in response to the increasing threat of Fascism and the economic crisis in Britain.</p><p><em>Gallery label, September 2004</em></p>
paper print lithograph
10 November 2003 – 20 October 2004
2004-10-20
10 November 2003
2003-11-10
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2003-11-10
1930s Documentary
Collection based display
1 February 2010 – 6 May 2010
2010-05-06
1 February 2010 – 6 May 2010
2010-05-06
2010-02-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-02-01
CAS
Collection based display
The Cinema
image: 200 × 179 mm
Presented by Ruth Boswell, the artist's widow 2000
<p><i>The Cinema </i>is one of a series of <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/lithography" title="Glossary definition for 'Lithography'"><span>lithographs</span></a> Boswell made in 1939 of places in London, including a theatre (Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/boswell-the-theatre-p11665" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P11665</span></a>), a railway station (Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/boswell-the-station-p11667" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P11667</span></a>) and the oratory in Hyde Park. He learned the art of lithography by attending evening classes taught by the artist James Fitton (1899-1982) at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in Southampton Row, and his mastery of the technique is evident from this small yet detailed image. In the foreground an usherette shines a torch to help direct a couple of latecomers to their seats in the already crowded auditorium. The image projected on to the screen shows two men, the one on the left contrasting with the gentleman on the right who appears to be wearing a top hat. Cinemas became an especially popular form of entertainment in the 1930s.
<br/>
<br/>Born in New Zealand, Boswell moved to London in 1925 where he remained for the rest of his life. In 1932 he joined the Communist Party and gave up <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> for politically motivated graphic work. The following year he co-founded the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/a/artists-international-association" title="Glossary definition for 'Artists International Association'"><span>Artists International Association</span></a>, along with Paul Hogarth (1917-2001) and James Fitton (1899-1982), and began to contribute sketches to left-wing periodicals, <i>The Left Review </i>and the <i>Daily Worker. </i>Many of these <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/print" title="Glossary definition for 'Print'"><span>prints</span></a> were political satires and are an attempt to expose class injustices, for example <i>Empire Builders </i>(Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/boswell-empire-builders-p01823" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P01823</span></a>)<i>. The Cinema, </i>reveals Boswell’s fascination with the life of ordinary people in London, and his ability to create original images of his daily surroundings. Clear comparisons can be made with the graphic work of George Cruickshank (1792-1878) and the French illustrator, Gustave Doré (1832-1883) who, although working a century earlier, equally exploited the effects produced by print-making to capture contemporary London life.
<br/>
<br/><b>Further reading:</b>
<br/>William Feaver, <i>Boswell’s London: Drawings by James Boswell Showing Changing London from the Thirties to the Fifties, </i>London 1978
<br/><i>James Boswell: Extracting the Dream Reality, </i>exhibition catalogue, Austin/Desmond Fine Art, London 1999
<br/>
<br/>Heather Birchall 
<br/>January 2004
<br/></p>

Summary
2004-10-07T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
<div class="para1">
<span class="text0">When Boswell joined the Communist Party in 1932 he gave      up <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> and began to produce graphics for mass reproduction. The <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/print" title="Glossary definition for 'Print'"><span>prints</span></a>      shown here were made as a result of the many evenings and weekends that he      spent exploring the streets and pubs of working-class London, especially in      Camden where he lived.  </span>
</div>
<div class="para10">
<span class="text0">
<br/> </span>
</div>
<div class="para1">
<span class="text0">Boswell was a founder member of the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/a/artists-international-association" title="Glossary definition for 'Artists International Association'"><span>Artists      International Association</span></a>. This group of artists and designers was formed      in 1933 in response to the increasing threat of Fascism and the economic      crisis in Britain.  </span>
</div>

Display caption
2004-09-09T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
adults audience cinema cinema figure groups interiors leisure and pastimes music and entertainment natural phenomena people places of entertainment rays shadow