Fireplace at The George, Colchester
1940
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1940
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
This watercolor shows guests at a historic hotel gathered around a Tudor fireplace. Walter Bayes painted it around 1940 as part of a project to record everyday British life. His quick brushwork captures the small, polite movements of the group. The scene hints at class and manners in a place caught between old and new. Bayes was part of a group that liked to paint ordinary people in real places. Look up the Victoria and Albert Museum.
