Ink, watercolour and graphite on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/wyndham-lewis-1502" aria-label="More by Wyndham Lewis" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Wyndham Lewis</a>
Composition
Purchased 1949
abstraction
from recognisable sources
geometric
man-made
non-representational
<p>At first glance<span> Composition</span> presents a compressed series of mechanical forms and abstract references to the modern city. However, it is possible to recognise traces of human figures. Dynamic thrusting shapes rise from the lower left but are contained within a claustrophobic, abstract environment. These forms can be seen as a dancing couple. The woman, on the right, bends backwards. The white parallelogram halfway up the right edge is perhaps her hair. The pleated curving architectural form at the bottom centre could be her skirt.</p><p><em>Gallery label, October 2020</em></p>
paper unique ink watercolour graphite
21 September 2001 – 7 July 2002
2002-07-07
21 September 2001 – 7 July 2002
2002-07-07
2001-09-21
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2001-09-21
Wyndham Lewis
Collection based display
5 February 2010 – 16 May 2010
2010-05-16
5 February 2010 – 16 May 2010
2010-05-16
2010-02-05
Fundación Juan March (Madrid, Spain)
http://www.march.es
2010-02-05
Wyndham Lewis
Loan-out
30 September 2010 – 15 May 2011
2011-05-15
30 September 2010 – 9 January 2011
2011-01-09
2010-09-30
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University (Durham, USA)
5 February 2011 – 15 May 2011
2011-05-15
2011-02-05
Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice, Italy)
http://www.guggenheim-venice.it/
22 June 2011 – 18 September 2011
2011-09-18
2011-06-22
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-09-30
Vorticism
Loan-out
30 September 2010 – 4 September 2011
2011-09-04
30 September 2010 – 2 January 2011
2011-01-02
2010-09-30
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University (Durham, USA)
29 January 2011 – 15 May 2011
2011-05-15
2011-01-29
Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice, Italy)
http://www.guggenheim-venice.it/
14 June 2011 – 4 September 2011
2011-09-04
2011-06-14
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-09-30
The Vorticists: Manifesto for a Modern World
Exhibition
15 February 2012 – 4 November 2012
2012-11-04
4 August 2012 – 4 November 2012
2012-11-04
2012-08-04
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Edinburgh, UK)
http://www.nationalgalleries.org/
2012-02-15
Picasso and Modern British Art
Exhibition
4 August 2012 – 4 November 2012
2012-11-04
4 August 2012 – 4 November 2012
2012-11-04
2012-08-04
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Edinburgh, UK)
http://www.nationalgalleries.org/
2012-08-04
Picasso and Modern Art
Loan-out
7 March 2013 – 30 June 2013
2013-06-30
7 March 2013 – 30 June 2013
2013-06-30
2013-03-07
Complesso del Vittoriano (Rome, Italy)
2013-03-07
Picasso, Braque, Leger and the International Language of Cubism
Loan-out
23 June 2017 – 9 January 2018
2018-01-09
23 June 2017 – 9 January 2018
2018-01-09
2017-06-23
Imperial War Museum North (Manchester, UK)
2017-06-23
The Enemy: The World and Wars of Wyndham Lewis
Loan-out
1 October 2020 – 25 September 2022
2022-09-25
1 October 2020 – 28 November 2021
2021-11-28
2020-10-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2020-10-01
Vorticism
Collection based display
Composition
support: 343 × 267 mm
frame: 605 × 453 × 30 mm
Purchased 1949
<div class="text">
<p>At first glance<i> Composition</i> presents a compressed series of mechanical forms and abstract references to the modern city. However, it is possible to recognise traces of human figures. Dynamic thrusting shapes rise from the lower left but are contained within a claustrophobic, abstract environment. These forms can be seen as a dancing couple. The woman, on the right, bends backwards. The white parallelogram halfway up the right edge is perhaps her hair. The pleated curving architectural form at the bottom centre could be her skirt.</p>
</div>

Display caption
2020-10-22T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N05886</b> COMPOSITION 1913
<br/> 
<br/>Inscr. ‘Wyndham Lewis 1913’ b.r.
<br/>Watercolour, pen and pencil, 13 1/2×10 1/2 (34×26·5).
<br/>Purchased from the artist through the Redfern Gallery (Knapping Fund) 1949.
<br/><i>Exh:</i> Redfern Gallery, May 1949 (10); Tate Gallery, July–August 1956 (33, repr. pl.2).
<br/><i>Lit:</i> Handley-Read, 1951, pp.36–7, 52, 57.
<br/><i>Repr:</i> <i>Art d' Aujourd' hui</i>, IV, No.2, 1953, p.1 (incorrectly as horizontal composition); <i>Konstrevy</i>, 1956, p.182 (as horizontal composition).</p>
<p>There are several pentimenti, involving <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/collage" title="Glossary definition for 'Collage'"><span>collage</span></a>, lower right, centre right and lower left (which includes the signature).</p>
<p>Related to the 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/d/drawing" title="Glossary definition for 'Drawing'"><span>drawings</span></a> for <i>Timon of Athens</i> exhibited in the <i>Second <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/post-impressionism" title="Glossary definition for 'Post-Impressionism'"><span>Post-Impressionist</span></a> Exhibition</i>, October–December 1912 (194), and published in 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/portfolio" title="Glossary definition for 'Portfolio'"><span>Portfolio</span></a> in 1914; also to ‘Planners’, <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/lewis-planners-happy-day-t00106" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>T00106</span></a>.</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, I
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-08T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
abstraction from recognisable sources geometric man-made non-representational