JAMES BROWN 1863-1943
By the Thames - Chiswick 1914
Pencil, pen and ink and watercolour 10 ¼ x 11 ¾ inches (26 x 30 cm)
Brown was never a member of the Camden Town Group but he was close to a number of its members and responded to their subject matter and style.
Quite a number of Brown’s pictures are of the banks of the Thames and it was at an exhibition of his work in Richmond in 1912 that Brown met the critic Frank Rutter whose writing in The Sunday Times championed the Camden Town Group. Rutter subsequently introduced Brown to Camden Town Group members Lucien Pissarro and James Manson, but while a fellow traveller he was never admitted to the group. His painting was much influenced by the techniques and palette of the French Impressionists, most notably Camille Pissarro and his son Lucien. Brown’s viewpoint in this watercolour looks West towards Fuller’s Brewery, whose chimney is visible at the centre of the composition.