Study for ‘Trafalgar Square’ c. 1926

Curator: This drawing, titled "Study for 'Trafalgar Square'," comes to us from William Roberts. Editor: It looks like an architect's blueprint, but instead of buildings, it’s people! All these blocky figures, so carefully planned. Curator: Roberts was deeply influenced by Cubism and Vorticism. Notice how he reduces human forms to geometric shapes. This sketch offers a peek into his process; you can see the grid he used to map out the larger composition. Editor: Right, but what’s striking is how this grid clashes with the organic subject matter – people feeding birds. It points to the tension between industrial order and everyday life that Roberts explores. All those marks show how the square became regimented. Curator: It’s as if he's freezing a fleeting moment in time, turning a public square into something solid, almost monumental. Editor: Exactly. A solid reflection of the industrial age imposing itself over the city. Curator: It certainly gives you a new appreciation for what goes into making the reality and a place. Editor: For sure, the physical space and how we experience it. It's all there in the process.