Artwork
Nos 10, 11 & 12 Richmond Green, Surrey
Nos 10, 11 & 12 Richmond Green, Surrey is a watercolor work on paper by the Social Realist artist Walker. It dates from 1942 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
In front, a patch of grass and a narrow sidewalk lead to a streetlamp with a round orange light.
This painting shows three tall, red-brick houses with dark windows and fancy iron railings. The buildings sit close together, with chimneys poking up against a pale blue sky. In front, a patch of grass and a narrow sidewalk lead to a streetlamp with a round orange light.
A small tree grows near the center house, and a sign on a lamp post reads "Victoria Anne."
The artist signed it in the corner, Edward Walker, and dated it 1942. The brushstrokes are loose, almost sketchy, especially in the grass and sky.
Look up Victoria and Albert Museum to see more works like this.
Overview
This 1942 watercolour painting, signed by Edward Walker, depicts three adjacent red-brick houses (Nos 10, 11, & 12) on Richmond Green, Surrey, capturing their architectural details against a pale blue sky.
Subject & Meaning
The work was created under the Recording Britain project, a wartime effort to document threatened British landscapes and heritage sites. This scene, with its everyday suburban detail, contributes to the project's broader goal of preserving a 'vanishing Britain'.
Technique & Style
Characterized by loose, sketchy brushstrokes, particularly evident in the grass and sky, the painting reflects a rapid, observational approach, prioritizing immediacy over meticulous detail.
History & Provenance
Commissioned as part of the Recording Britain initiative (led by Sir Kenneth Clark, funded by the Pilgrim Trust), this work is one of over 1,500 created by 97 artists to record nationally significant sites during WWII.
Context
The project primarily focused on English villages, churches, and rural landscapes, with limited coverage of Wales and Scotland, and none of Northern Ireland, highlighting England's perceived cultural heritage at the time.
Artist & collection
Artist
An English watercolorist active in the early 1940s, this artist painted the spires, bridges, and inns of small-town England in quick, transparent washes.
Brunswick Terrace, Windsor
Admiral's House, Hampstead
Victoria Square S.W.1.
Houses and Yard
Hollyberry Walk, N.W.3.
Buckingham Place, Westminster
Smith Square, Westminster
Old brick residences in the grounds of the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum)
Page's Yard, Chiswick Mall
"Wrencote," High Street, Croydon- Foot of Hill Rise, Richmond