Robert Medley

Summer Eclogue No. 1: Cyclists

1950

© The estate of Robert Medley

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On loan

MK Gallery (Milton Keynes, UK): The Lie of the Land

Artist: Robert Medley 1905–1994
Medium: Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions: Unconfirmed: 1295 x 1600 mm
frame: 1370 x 1676 x 62 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Purchased 1992
Reference: T06549

Display caption

As well as a painter, Medley was a theatre designer, designing sets for TS Eliot and WH Auden - who was his lover - in the 1930s. Initially influenced by Bloomsbury and Surrealism, he later became concerned 'with the movement of human figures in space'. This is one of several paintings inspired by weekend parties of cyclists at Gravesend on the Thames. Its treatment of bodies in motion reflects Medley's long association with the theatre, while the word eclogue, an ancient form of pastoral poem, turns the modern scene into a timeless moment. Exhibited at the 1951 Festival of Britain, it adds an important early work to our collection of Medley's paintings.

Gallery label, August 2004

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