Brunswick Square Gardens, London

Eric Henri Kennington R.A. 1888-1960, was an English artist, sculptor and illustrator. He served as an official war artist in both World Wars, he was born in London and was a member of the Royal Academy and the New English Art Club, his time as a war artist was spent mainly drawing and painting portraits of servicemen, officers and the ranks also. He met and was influenced by T.E. Lawrence and was responsible for numerous illustrations in Lawrence's book Seven Pillars of Wisdom. He produced a large number of public sculptures during the 1930's, as a well known artist he was in demand for painting the most famous people of the time. This painting depicts a row of houses in Brunswick Square Gardens in central London, the houses were the homes of very famous artistic people and scholars, E.M. Forster, Virginia and Leonard Woolf , Forster lived at No. 27 until at least 1915 he also lived at no. 26 at a later date. The row of houses were demolished in 1926, and I suspect this was painted by Kennington for one of his friends as a reminder of their mutual love of the position, a small tree lined landscape in the middle of London, and suffering no damage during the War, but finding it being demolished thereafter. A blue plaque now marks the position of the house now, the house was registered in the name of Adrian Stephen until 1915, he was known to all the occupants. This picture is signed and images confirm this. I have included a further biography for your interest. Eric Henri Kennington (12 March 1888 – 13 April 1960) was a distinguished English painter, sculptor, draughtsman, and illustrator, whose work is especially celebrated for its vivid engagement with the experience of war and the character of the ordinary serviceman. Born in Chelsea, London, he was the son of the genre and portrait painter Thomas Benjamin Kennington, a founder-member of the New English Art Club, and was educated at St Paul’s School and the Lambeth School of Art. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1908 and gained early recognition for portrayals of London costermongers and street life. Kennington’s artistic trajectory was profoundly shaped by the First World War. After enlisting in the 13th (Kensington) Battalion, London Regiment in 1914 and being wounded the following year, he painted The Kensingtons at Laventie (1915), an iconic depiction of his own platoon that marked his emergence as a war artist. In 1917 he was appointed an official war artist, spending extended periods on the Western Front producing portraits and scenes of military life that combined technical precision with psychological depth. In the inter-war years Kennington expanded his practice into sculpture and illustration. After travelling in the Middle East in connection with T. E. Lawrence, he illustrated Seven Pillars of Wisdom and produced notable public memorials, including the 24th Division War Memorial in Battersea Park (1924) and architectural reliefs for the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon. During the Second World War he again served as an official war artist, this time focusing on air and naval personnel with a prolific output of pastels and drawings. His later work included commemorative sculpture and portraiture; he was appointed an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1951 and elected a full Royal Academician in 1959. Kennington died in Reading in 1960 and is remembered for his powerful fusion of realist observation with formal discipline across both painting and sculpture.