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The Interior of the Old Grand Theatre, now the Gaumont Hippodrome, Colchester

Walter Bayes

1940

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Early Modern Interior

Dominant colour

The Interior of the Old Grand Theatre, now the Gaumont Hippodrome, Colchester is a 1940 watercolor by Walter Bayes, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Walter Bayes
When & what style?: 1940
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This watercolor shows the inside of a once-grand theater, now an old cinema. Walter Bayes painted it between 1940 and 1943 using soft watercolor tones. Bayes belonged to a small London art group led by Walter Sickert. Unlike Sickert’s dark stage scenes, Bayes focused on bright lights and shiny surfaces in pink, white, and gold. Look up the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more watercolors by Bayes.

The story of this work

Overview

This watercolor depicts a view from a box or gallery of the Old Grand Theatre in Colchester, focusing on the stage’s proscenium arch adorned with an elaborate shell and pearl motif referencing the town’s oyster heritage. Signed by the artist, the work employs pale tones to highlight the theater’s gilded and white decorative surfaces rather than the dramatic lighting effects favored by Sickert. Painted in 1940, the scene captures the Edwardian interior shortly before the theater transitioned from live performances to cinema and later bingo hall use. The artwork reflects the broader decline of…

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

Artist

Walter Bayes

Walter John Bayes was an English painter and illustrator who was a founder member of both the Camden Town Group and the London Group and also a renowned art teacher and critic.

See the richer artist page