James Boswell

Leicester Square

1934

© The estate of James Boswell

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment
Artist
James Boswell 1906–1971
Medium
Lithograph on paper
Dimensions
Image: 213 × 213 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Presented by Ruth Boswell, the artist's widow 1977
Reference
P01819

Display caption

Boswell was fascinated by the people of London. His explorations of Camden Town, Kentish Town and the West End of the city resulted in a number of lithographs, including this view of a seedy magazine stand in Leicester Square. Many of these prints were reproduced in the Communist journal, Left Review, of which Boswell became editor in 1934.

The linearity of this print and the grotesque physiognomy of the characters were inspired by the German caricaturist George Grosz, whose savage humour condemned the rise of German militarism in the 1920s. Like Grosz's work, Boswell's satirical sketches attacked the bourgeoisie.

Gallery label, September 2004

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