Photo: Self-Portrait Wearing a Cap, William Roberts RA, 1931. Courtesy Tate. © Estate of the Artist.
An English Heritage Blue Plaque has been unveiled at the former north London home of William Roberts RA, one of the most distinctive and respected British artists of the 20th century.
Perhaps best known for his early work, Roberts (1895-1980) was a founder member of the influential Vorticist Group and an official First World War artist.
The Blue Plaque was unveiled by writer Alan Bennett at 14 St Mark’s Crescent, London NW1, the house where the artist lived and worked from 1946 until his death in 1980.
A spokesperson for English Heritage told the 24 Hour Museum how Roberts has been described as "one of the most important English painters of his time."
Explaining why the decision had been made to erect the plaque, the spokesperson added: "His long connection with that address was one of the reasons, having worked there and used that whole area as a stimulus and inspiration for his work over all those years."
Drawn to art from a young age, William Roberts attended evening classes at St Martin’s School of Art. In 1911 he won a scholarship to the Slade School where fellow pupils included Stanley Spencer and Paul Nash.
Influenced by Cubism and Post-Impressionism, on leaving the Slade Roberts followed a period of travelling in France and Italy by producing his first abstract work.
Alongside the renowned Wyndham Lewis, he became a central figure in the Vorticist Group of artists, whose first exhibition came in 1915 and was followed by the publication of Blast, a pamphlet expounding their views on art.
In 1916, he enrolled to fight in the Great War as a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery, but was recalled from France to be an Official War Artist. His commissions saw him venture into more realistic territory with works such as The First German Gas Attack and A Shell Dump, France.
After the war Roberts worked prolifically, taking inspiration from the city around him and portraying Londoners engaged in everyday pursuits from playing cards, to dancing and sunbathing.
He began teaching at the Central School of Art in 1925, where he remained until 1960. As a regular exhibiter at the Royal Academy, he became a full Academician in 1966.
In later years Roberts became increasingly reclusive, feeling that his work was not sufficiently recognised. He died at his easel in January 1980.
