Wyndham Lewis

Portrait of Edwin Evans

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About this artwork

Edwin Evans (1874-1945) was a celebrated music critic. A group of his friends commissioned this portrait to honour his role in promoting modern music in Britain, and presented it to Evans at a dinner in January 1923. The painting was still unfinished since the subscribers had failed to raise the full amount promised to Lewis. Lewis continued to work on the painting after the presentation, but Evans, satisfied with its unfinished state, soon claimed it back. The squared pattern reveals Lewis’s method of work: he would make a pencil study, draw a grid over it, and then draw a similar grid onto the canvas. He could then transfer the composition with great precision by copying the individual squares.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    Wyndham Lewis (1882 - 1957) English
  • title:
    Portrait of Edwin Evans
  • date created:
    1922 - 1923
  • materials:
    Oil on canvas
  • measurements:
    149.00 x 107.80 cm; Framed: 166.80 x 125.00 x 6.50 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Purchased 1968
  • accession number:
    GMA 1079
  • gallery:
  • subject:
  • artwork photographed by:
    Antonia Reeve
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Wyndham Lewis

Wyndham Lewis