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>
Theatre
Presented by Ruth Boswell, the artist's widow 2000
actor
adults
arts and entertainment
audience
groups
interiors
leisure and pastimes
man
music and entertainment
people
places of entertainment
theatre
theatre
woman
work and occupations
<p>In this image a man is shown acting in a theatre, wearing Elizabethan costume. His presence alone on the stage suggests he may be playing Hamlet delivering a soliloquy to the audience. The ornate interior, boxes and coat of arms suggest a Victorian or Edwardian theatre. <span>The Theatre </span>is part of a series of lithographs Boswell made in 1939 of London. 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. Other scenes in the series include a cinema (Tate P11669), a railway station (Tate P11667) and the oratory in Hyde Park. Feaver describes the series: ‘This is the London of Graham Greene’s seedy, conscience-stricken agents, of Patrick Hamilton’s hungover failures in life, of Orwell’s down and out literary agents’ (Feaver, p.6).</p>
paper print lithograph
The Theatre
image: 210 × 200 mm
Presented by Ruth Boswell, the artist's widow 2000
<p>In this image a man is shown acting in a theatre, wearing Elizabethan costume. His presence alone on the stage suggests he may be playing Hamlet delivering a soliloquy to the audience. The ornate interior, boxes and coat of arms suggest a Victorian or Edwardian theatre. <i>The Theatre </i>is part 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 London. 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. Other scenes in the series include a cinema (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-cinema-p11669" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P11669</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. Feaver describes the series: ‘This is the London of Graham Greene’s seedy, conscience-stricken agents, of Patrick Hamilton’s hungover failures in life, of Orwell’s down and out literary agents’ (Feaver, p.6).
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<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 became co-founder 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>, 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> are 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 Theatre, </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 of print-making to capture contemporary London life.
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<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
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<br/>Heather Birchall 
<br/>January 2004
<br/></p>

Summary
2004-10-07T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
actor adults arts and entertainment audience groups interiors leisure and pastimes man music and entertainment people places of entertainment theatre theatre woman work and occupations