Summary
William Townsend studied at the Slade School of Art from 1926 to 1930, where he was taught by Professor Henry Tonks (1862-1937). In the 1930s he became closely associated with the artists of the Euston Road School, who painted works depicting daily urban life in a closely observed, realistic manner. In 1948, the year in which he painted this picture, he had returned from a brief period of conscription in the Royal Artillery and was back at the Slade, this time as a teacher.
The painting shows a view of the South Bank of the Thames, which was, at this point, undeveloped. The view, as seen from the Victoria Embankment in the foreground, shows Hungerford and Waterloo bridges on the left and St Paul's Cathedral in the distance. The area depicted was to be the site of the Festival of Britain in 1951, but when this image was painted it was still an area badly damaged by war-time bombing and had fallen into dereliction. The painting evokes an era that has been described as 'a period of drabness, austerity, rationbooks and queueing' (Neve, p.10)… (read more)
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