Arthur Hacker - Return from the Matinée, Piccadilly Circus [1911]

Arthur Hacker - Return from the Matinée, Piccadilly Circus [1911], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Evoking the foggy atmosphere for a wintry evening and the yellow light created by the gas-fired lamps, Return from the Matinée, Piccadilly Circus belongs to a group of paintings, three of which were exhibited at the Royal Academy that year. In a re-run of the RA show, The Studio called them “three remarkable tone and colour studies of London at night.” Hacker (1858 - 1919) was well established by the time he produced these works. He had trained at the Royal Academy schools for four years, prior to a period of study at Bonnat’s atelier in Paris and further travels on the continent. He commenced exhibiting at the Royal Academy in 1878 Romantic and Symbolist-inspired compositions and he was also much sought after as a society portraitist. Hacker was invited to exhibit at the first NEAC show of 1886, was elected as an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1894 and became a full Academician in 1910.

[Oil on canvas, 50.8 x 61 cm]