William Roberts, R.A.

The Artist, from whom acquired by Frederick O. Marsh
Sale, Christie’s London, 4th March 1977, lot 146
Sale, Christie’s London, 12th June 1987, lot 343
Sale, Replica Shoes ’s London, 30th September 1998, lot 79
Private collects ion, London, by whom gifted to the present owner

London, Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition, 1964, cat. no.41;
London, Tate, William Roberts ARA: Retrospective Exhibition, 20th November - 19th December 1965, cat. no.105, with Arts Council tour to Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle and Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester.

William Roberts, Paintings and Drawings 1909-1964, Canale Publications, London, 1964, illustrated p.33. 

Original canvas. The canvas is sound. There is a very small push in the upper left corner, possibly a result of an object between the stretcher and the canvas. There are one or two tiny spots of surface dirt, most noticeable in the bottom left corner. Subject to the above the work is in excellent overall condition. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals no obvious signs of restoration or retouching. The work is held within a cream painted wood frame with a white rebate. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any stat.mes nt made by Replica Shoes 's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

We are grateful to David Cleall and Bob Davenport for their kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work. 

'If he needed a note of something that caught his fancy or interest he would find a scrap of paper in his pocket and make a pattern of a few lines...The scrap of paper was added to the pile he had collects ed for many years, and which would have taken him many years to complete...After each finished work he would go through this pile and select one and not always the latest to start whatever suited him at the moment. He didn't use a sketchbook. It was quite an adventure going through this pile to try to guess which would come next.' (Sarah Roberts, unpublished notes for an autobiography, reproduced in Andrew Heard, William Roberts, Hatton Gallery, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2004, p.56)

William Roberts felt it rang false to purely invent a subject and he never committed to a composition without it having some source, either from his observations of everyday life, from literature or scripture, or from his studies of the arts. He would often spend long hours strolling around his neighbourhood in London, meandering by Regent's canal and Primrose Hill, jotting down sketched observations on little slips of paper as he went.

Bicycle Lesson is perhaps derived from such an expedition, and certainly the subject, which focuses on the tumultuous energy of urban life and human interaction, would have been appealing to the artist. Roberts had always been in thrall to the vivacity of modernity, and was particularly drawn to uproarious environments, from the boisterous atmosphere of packed noisy cafes, to the movement and hustle and bustle of crowds. With a keen eye for detail and observation, and using the distinctive style he developed between the wars, in works such as Bicycle Lesson, Roberts was able to articulate the intricacies of social interaction through gesture and facial expression. Here he has arranged the figures within a characteristically deliberate compositional arrangement, a series of diagonals that pull our eye across and up the tableau. The scene is one of an urban clash, as pedestrians wrangle with cyclists who crowd the crossing. The subject of bicycles as a form of transportation and recreation is one that had interested Roberts since the 1930s, when he painted his outstanding Bicycle Boys (1939, Private collects ion, sold in these rooms 17^th November 2015 for £485,000) and he later produced several drawings on the subject.