Sickert at Tate Britain

I wasn’t sure how much I liked the work of Walter Sickert. Thanks to this ENORMOUS exhibition, on until September 2022, I find I like it quite a lot.

I was really struck by the obvious relish with which he painted. On a good day, what a painter! Luscious details captured in a couple of confident brushstrokes. I expected an overload of shadows and murky colours, but there are plenty of gorgeous theatrical hues. He didn’t go in for blue skies much - they’re more likely to be green or purple.

Some works felt very familiar, but I’d forgotten or hadn’t known that they were by Sickert. I didn’t realise that Degas was such an influence.

Endlessly curious and developing new themes, you get the sense if he’d lived longer he would have embraced or anticipated every new genre as it came along. He was the opposite of precious.

I also liked the curation. The captions were informative but not didactic ( as with the recent Hogarth show) and I came away with more questions than answers, which feels appropriate for this slippery man of mischief.