Dimensions: support: 508 x 610 mm frame: 752 x 854 x 91 mm
Copyright: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: This is Walter Sickert's "The Tottenham Distillery." The date is unknown. It's an oil on canvas, currently at the Tate. It looks like a kitchen scene. What do you see in it? Curator: Sickert, known for his depictions of urban life, here seems to be documenting the labor within the distillery. Notice how the figures are positioned, almost anonymized. It prompts us to consider the politics of labor and representation, doesn't it? Editor: I hadn’t thought about it that way. I was focused on the setting. Curator: The setting is crucial, but consider what Sickert chooses to show us and what he obscures. Who is visible, and whose stories remain untold? Editor: I see what you mean. Thanks for the insight! Curator: My pleasure. It’s about acknowledging the unseen labor and its social implications.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/sickert-the-tottenham-distillery-n05086
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The setting of this picture may be the the pub called 'The Tottenham' at the eastern end of Oxford Street, where Sickert often had lunch. However, the artist Randolph Schwabe recalled in 1943 that there had once been a pub called 'The Tottenham Distillery' near the Slade art school in Bloomsbury, 'an old fashioned tavern where the food was good'.Using economical painting and a small number of colours, Sickert achieves a cohesive and very beautiful design. The surface of the canvas and under-drawing are freely allowed to show through to give textural interest. Gallery label, September 2004
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