Walter Sickert (1860-1942) is one of the few English painters of his day to admire to entertain close relations with his French contemporaries notably Edgar Degas, Jacques-Émile Blanche, Pierre Bonnard, Claude Monet but also Camille Pissarro whom he met during his long sojourns in Normandy in the 1890s. His paintings of London music halls and the shabby interiors of Bohemian Camden town were considered quite shocking in the conservative London art world of the early 1900s. His cityscapes of Dieppe or Venice have, on the other hand, a mysteriously luminous and dreamy atmosphere that aligns them with late 19th century Symbolism. Post-WWI he increasingly used press photographs as his pictorial source on canvases encrusted with subtle and sensuous layers of mat paint. Indeed, his approach to the figure and earthy color schemes will have a great impact on future British painters such as Stanley Spencer and Lucian Freud.

This is a unique opportunity to discover a great early modern master seldom shown outside of Great Britain in a very comprehensive exhibition organized in partnership with Tate Britain.