Tempera and traced carbon on cardboard
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Contemporary Art Society
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/edward-wadsworth-2113" aria-label="More by Edward Wadsworth" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Edward Wadsworth</a>
Still Life
Bequeathed by Montague Shearman through the Contemporary Art Society 1940
animals: features
clothing and personal items
objects
ribbon
shell
tools and machinery
wood
<p>The shells in this work, set against the endless expanse of sea, can be seen as symbols of mortality. Wadsworth was fascinated by the sea, and painted maritime subjects throughout his life.</p><p>In the mid-1920s he turned from relatively naturalistic harbour scenes to enigmatic still lifes which suggest the dream-like unease of Surrealism. At the same time, he began to experiment with tempera, a method of painting using pigments mixed with egg. Tempera had been the principal painting technique before the introduction of oils in the fifteenth century.</p><p><em>Gallery label, July 2008</em></p>
painting tempera traced carbon cardboard
20 October 2011 – 8 January 2012
2012-01-08
20 October 2011 – 8 January 2012
2012-01-08
2011-10-20
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon, Portugal)
2011-10-20
In the Presence of Things. Four Centuries of European Still Life Painting", Part Two: 1840-1955.
Loan-out
1 September 2013 – 31 January 2014
2014-01-31
1 September 2013 – 31 January 2014
2014-01-31
2013-09-01
Cooper Gallery (Barnsley, UK)
http://www.barnsley.gov.uk/tourism/coopergallery/index.asp
2013-09-01
Edward Wadsworth
Loan-out
29 March 2025 – 14 September 2025
2025-09-14
29 March 2025 – 14 September 2025
2025-09-14
2025-03-29
Hastings Contemporary (Hastings, UK)
2025-03-29
Undersea
Loan-out
Still Life
support: 356 × 251 mm
frame: 450 × 350 × 65 mm
Bequeathed by Montague Shearman through the <a href="/search?gid=999999975" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Contemporary Art Society</a> 1940
<div class="pbodytext">
<span class="text7">The shells in this work, set against the endless      expanse of sea, can be seen as symbols of mortality. Wadsworth was      fascinated by the sea, and painted maritime subjects throughout his life. </span>
</div>
<div class="para9">
<span class="text7">
<br/> </span>
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<div class="pbodytext">
<span class="text7">In the mid-1920s he turned from relatively naturalistic      harbour scenes to enigmatic <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/still-life" title="Glossary definition for 'Still life'"><span>still lifes</span></a> which suggest the dream-like unease      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/s/surrealism" title="Glossary definition for 'Surrealism'"><span>Surrealism</span></a>. At the same time, he began to experiment with <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/t/tempera" title="Glossary definition for 'Tempera'"><span>tempera</span></a>,  a      method 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/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> using pigments mixed with egg. Tempera had been the      principal painting technique before the introduction of oils in the      fifteenth century. </span>
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2008-07-30T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N05147</b> STILL LIFE <i>c.</i> 1926
<br/>
<br/>Inscr. ‘Edward Wadsworth’ b.r.
<br/>Tempera and traced carbon outline on white-primed cardboard, 14×9 7/8 (35·5×25).
<br/>Bequeathed by Montague Shearman through the Contemporary Art Society 1940.</p>
<p><i>Coll:</i> Probably purchased by Montague Shearman from the artist <i>c.</i> 1938–9.</p>
<p><i>Exh:</i> Tooth's, April–May 1938 (30); Tate Gallery, February–March 1951 (12).</p>
<p>The artist began a series of experiments with <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/t/tempera" title="Glossary definition for 'Tempera'"><span>tempera</span></a>, of which he believed this to be one of the earliest, about 1926, to demonstrate the technique to Pierre Roy (letter from the artist, 6 September 1942). In the same year he abandoned <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/landscape" title="Glossary definition for 'Landscape'"><span>landscape</span></a> <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 still life, often employing elements in a quasi-<a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/surrealism" title="Glossary definition for 'Surrealism'"><span>Surrealist</span></a> manner. It was in the October of this year that the Surrealist Manifesto appeared.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, II
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-07T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
animals: features clothing and personal items objects ribbon shell tools and machinery wood