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Signed l.r.: H.E.Allen
Gouache, 9 by 11 ins (23 by 28 cm)

Exhibited: 20th Century Gallery, London, Exhibition of works by the Sheffield Artist Harry Epworth Allen 1894-1958, October 1991

£1,500

Gouache and watercolour over pencil, 8 ½ by 6 ½ ins (21.5 by 16.5 cm)

 

Dating from 1936, the present work is a study for one of Epworth Allen’s most original and dynamic works in tempera, The Wall of Death, now in The Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle (inv.F13744). The picture shows a Wall of Death, one of the most popular circus side shows from around the 1920s onwards. The structure was a barrel-shaped board on which a stunt motorcyclist would perform tricks, mostly involving the building-up of terrifyingly excessive speeds. In this sense it is not unlike the idea of today’s velodromes. Epworth Allen’s depiction is as much a study of the reaction of an enthralled audience, than of the thrilling event itself.