Open full image Pin

Alton Lodge

Cheek

1943

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Early Modern Architectural

Dominant colour

Alton Lodge is a 1943 watercolor by Cheek, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Cheek
When & what style?: 1943
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

The painting, Alton Lodge, depicts a two-story red brick building with a small tower on the left side. The tower has a balcony on the second floor and a small room on the top floor. The building's facade features a small arched doorway and several windows. The surrounding environment is lush with trees and greenery. A notable detail in the painting is the use of watercolor to create a sense of depth and texture in the building's brickwork. The artist's use of color and shading adds a sense of warmth and character to the scene. If you're interested in learning more about the artist behind this work, you can look up Cheek.

The story of this work

Overview

A watercolour by Cheek from 1943, depicting Alton Lodge, an Italianate red-brick building with a distinctive roof-top pavilion at one end. The work is part of the 'Recording Britain' collection, a wartime scheme initiated in 1940 by the Committee for the Employment of Artists in Wartime to document the changing face of Britain. Funded by the Pilgrim Trust and directed by Sir Kenneth Clark, the project employed artists to record topographical scenes, including buildings and landscapes, as a response to concerns about potential bomb damage, invasion, and broader landscape changes. Over 1,500…

Read the full account in the museum source.