It is also likely to be the earliest example in 20th-century British art of a person of sub-Saharan origin to be the sole subject of a full-length portrait. Gilman, a keen gardener himself, was a pupil at The Slade together with Spencer Gore, Wyndham Lewis, and was a founder member of Walter SickertÂ’s Camden Town School. Although the sitter is thought to be a model, this unique acquisition will help the museum re-orientate its collection towards the diversity of a central London audience.

Provenance

Peter Langan.