A rarely seen painting by British artist Walter Sickert, which was once part of Hollywood gangster actor Edward G. Robinson's collection, will go up for sale in London on September 26. The artwork, titled "Ennui" (1913), represents one of only five oil paintings by Sickert bearing the same name, all created during the 1910s and each depicting a pub landlord alongside his wife.
Of the five paintings in the series, three are currently housed in British galleries. One belongs to the Royal Collection and holds such special significance for King Charles that it hangs in his private quarters at Clarence House. Another is displayed at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The remaining two works, including the one coming up for sale, have remained in private collections for decades.
The painting scheduled for sale will be featured in a selling exhibition at the Piano Nobile gallery in Holland Park. It belonged to the late American collectors Bill and Ann Lucas from 2001 until their deaths, and has not been publicly exhibited since that time. Among its previous owners was Edward G. Robinson, the legendary actor famous for his portrayals of mobsters in films such as "Little Caesar" (1931). According to a gallery spokesperson, the painting carries a price tag in the region of $750,000 and is expected to be the star attraction of the exhibition.
The significance of Sickert's "Ennui" series extends beyond the art world into literary circles. After writer Virginia Woolf viewed the Ashmolean's version of "Ennui," she engaged in correspondence with Sickert about the work. Woolf was so moved by the painting that she wrote an entire pamphlet about it, describing the publican and his wife as bearing "the accumulated weariness of innumerable days which had discharged its burden on them," and how "dull minutes are mounting, old matches accumulating along with dirty glasses and a dead cigar."
The Lucas collection sale will also feature several other significant Sickert works from his eight-year residence in Dieppe, France, from 1898 to 1906, a period that followed his divorce. These pieces include his painting of Eglise St Jacques in Dieppe, accompanied by five sketches of the same church. Sickert, who was born in Germany before moving to England in 1868, developed such a deep affection for Dieppe that when World War I began, he wrote to Winston Churchill, who was serving as the UK's First Lord of the Admiralty at the time, requesting assistance in protecting the French town from German attacks. Remarkably, by 1916, Sickert had begun teaching Churchill the art of painting.
Additional works from the Lucas collection include a Sickert pastel depicting a naked sex worker, which has not been displayed publicly since 1908, making it another extremely rare piece. The comprehensive collection encompasses more than 60 Sickert prints, works on paper, and several sketches, providing viewers with insight into how the artist developed and refined his various subject matters throughout his career. This exhibition offers art enthusiasts and collectors a unique opportunity to view and potentially acquire works that have been hidden from public view for decades.
