Study for ‘Going to Swim’ c. 1930 - 1933

Editor: This is William Roberts's "Study for 'Going to Swim'", currently held at the Tate. The figures are rendered in a very blocky style. What’s fascinating to me is how this drawing relates to Roberts's engagement with both modernism and social realism in Britain at the time? Curator: Well, consider the context. Roberts was working in the interwar period, where there was a real push for public art. How do you think the subject matter, a group of men preparing to swim, plays into that? Editor: Perhaps it's about depicting ordinary people and leisure activities as a way to promote a sense of collective identity? Curator: Exactly! And notice the simplification of forms, a nod to modernist aesthetics. It's a way of making the image accessible, democratic, if you will. Yet, it also aligns with socialist ideals of representing workers or the common man. Editor: So, it's more than just a scene; it's a statement about art's role in society. I hadn't considered that angle. Curator: Precisely. Thinking about the politics of imagery always enriches our understanding of art.