Dimensions: support: 584 x 762 mm frame: 798 x 917 x 82 mm
Copyright: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Walter Greaves’ "Old Battersea Bridge" presents a rather industrial landscape. The visible bridge construction and the factories in the background make me wonder about the labor involved. What can you tell me about this piece? Curator: Consider the materiality; the wood and the paint are products of industry and trade. Greaves paints a London transformed by industrial capitalism, the bridge a symbol of connection and the factories of production, their chimneys dominating the skyline. Editor: So, it's not just about aesthetics, but also about the materials and their origins? Curator: Precisely! The artwork becomes a document of its time, reflecting the social and economic conditions of Victorian England. Editor: I’m definitely seeing the painting, and the era, in a whole new light now.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/greaves-old-battersea-bridge-n04598
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This is a picture of Old Battersea Bridge, seen from up stream, on Lindsey Row (now Cheyne Walk), with Battersea on the far shore. The boatyard belonging to Greaves family is in the foreground. On the extreme left is the wall surrounding the garden of the artist William Bell Scott. In the far distance Crystal Palace is just visible. Battersea Bridge was demolished in 1881, and replaced with the present bridge. Before the alterations Greaves recalled the danger to shipping and the difficulty of steering through the arches unless the ‘set of the tide was known’. Gallery label, February 2004
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