Signed in red ink (lower right) and inscribed That boy of mine will ruin me (lower centre).
Literature: R. Emmons, The Life & Opinions of Walter Richard Sickert, London, 1941, p. 200, illustrated;
Baron 2006, n. 394.1, pp. 395-396, illustrated on p. 396.
Provenance: Dr Robert Emmons;
H. E. du Plessis;
Browse and Delbanco, London, 1963;
Davis & Long Company, New York;
Mr & Mrs Richeson Jr.;
The Fine Art Society, London, 1988;
Bonham’s Sale, Modern Pictures, 20 September 2011, London, Knightsbridge, lot 211;
Christie’s Sale, Modern British and Irish Art, 21 March 2013, London, South Kensington, lot 30.
Exhibitions: Probably London, Savile Gallery, An Exhibition of Drawings by W.R. Sickert, ARA 1926, n. 28;
London, Leicester Galleries, 1950, Paintings and Drawings by W.R. Sickert from the Collection of Dr Robert Emmons, n. 26;
Johannesburg, Adler Fielding Galleries, 1965, Walter Richard Sickert. 1860-1942, n. D5.
A half recumbent man appears unconscious in the foreground, possibly in the middle of a binge. An aged woman – perhaps the boy’s mother – is sitting on a bed behind him. Through the inscription “That boy of mine will ruin me”, Sickert gives voice to her concerns.
The drawing is related to the painting That boy will be the death of me (Private Collection, Baron 2006, no. 394). The fact that it is squared for transfer suggests that this is probably also its final study.
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