ʻWhat I think should be said is that Goreʼs very personal colour is something more than a delightful idiosyncrasy, the gift of a subtle and perceptive eye. Those curious violet reds, applied to paths and brickwork, or faces in a London room, are not the familiar purple shadows of Impressionism. The positive vermillion of Letchworth roofs, touches of orange lurking among the green of summer, subtle vibrations of neutrals, always coloured: these ways in which Gore read nature, were closely studied by other painters of the group because they realised that sa serious intelligence was extending the scope of Impressionismʼ (F. Gore, Spencer Frederick Gore 1878-1914, London, Anthony dʼOffay, 1974, p. 13). This influence was felt by Sickert, who stated, ʻTo come down to historical fact, I may as well say that it is my practice that was transformed from 1905 by the example of Goreʼs talentʼ (W R Sickert, quoted in ibid. p. 8).
With Peter Nahum, London
Private Collection, 1987
Christieʼs, London, 21 March 2018, lot 106, where purchased post sale by the present owner
