Feature: THE BIG PICTURE - Exhibition - From Munich to Highbury: the Walter Sickert Family Collection- Islington Museum

Published: 22 July 2010
by JOHN EVANS

NEXT week the tables will be turned on Walter Sickert, the painter who shocked Edwardian society with his  Camden Town Murder paintings. 

Sickert was fascinated by the often slightly threadbare intimate interiors of north London homes, picking over the random objects appearing in them. 

But at The Islington Museum from next Friday, it is the intimate contents of Sickert’s own life that are  on show.

From Munich to Highbury features rarely viewed paintings, letters and personal effects from the great man’s life, including items from his north London homes in Islington.

There are paintings and etchings found in his studio at the time of his death in 1942.

His palette is there, along with what is promised to be a fascinating archive of his letters, photographs and newspaper cuttings. 

The exhibition will also cast light on the art of the German-born Impressionist’s close family, including that of his third wife Thérèse Lessore, who shared Sickert’s love of music-hall and circuses.

• From Munich to Highbury: the Walter Sickert Family Collection in Islington is at The Islington Museum, 245 St John Street, EC1 from July 30 until November 27. Admission free