Walter Bayes
1869-1956
Bayes studied under Fred Brown and Sickert at the Westminster School of Art and as well as a painter in oils and watercolours, he was a decorator of buildings and theatrical scenery. A lecturer in perspective at the Slade School and the Royal Academy, he had several books published on art theory including: The Art of Decorative Painting (1926), Turner, a Speculative Portrait (1931) and A Painter's Baggage (1932). Between 1906 and 1916 he was an art critic for The Athenaeum. Bayes was one of the original sixteen members of the Camden Town Group and was also a founder member of the London Group. Like many of his progressive contemporaries he made many visits to France and his interior and figurative paintings showed the influence of the Post-Impressionsts. His obituary in The Times of 23 January 1956 stated: '... it might be an overstatement to say Bayes was too intellectual for a painter, but it is certainly true to say that he excelled in what has been called the science of picture making, including perspective and the proportioning and balancing of colour.' His solo exhibitions included ones at the Leicester Galleries in 1918 and 1951. He was Principal of the Westminster School of Art from 1919 to 1934. His work is held in many public collections including the Tate Gallery. A retrospective exhibition of his work was staged at the Parkin Gallery in 1978.
Works Available
Near Swanage
The Foreign Office from St. James's Park