Chris Beetles Gallery

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Adelphi Arches, John St

Stanley Roy Badmin (1906-1989)

Price

£650

Signed

Inscribed 'Adelphi Arches, St John St' below mount
Inscribed with title on reverse

Medium

Pen and ink

Dimensions

4 ¾ x 5 ¾ inches

Provenance

The S R Badmin Estate, and by descent

Exhibited

'S R Badmin RWS', Chris Beetles Gallery, June 1985, No 181;
'S R Badmin RWS, Paintings, Drawings & Prints', Chris Beetles Gallery, March - April 2015, No 82;
'S R Badmin RWS RE: Watercolours, Drawings & Etchings', Chris Beetles Gallery, June-July 2022

Tonal study for the etching 'The Adelphi Arches, Lower Robert St, London' c1936. Catalogue raisonné no 45.

The Adelphi buildings were built in the 1770s by the Adam brothers, Robert, James, John and William. Twenty four grand terraced houses were built over vast brick arches and a labyrinthe of underground streets and vaults used to store goods for Thames shipment. Coal was stored there was taken by horse and cart to the West End. During the 19th century, the area fell into decline and the vaults became home to the poor and destitute. Many of the buildings and vaults were demolished but one remains well hidden at Lower Robert Street and which is still used by cabbies taking short cuts.

Adelphi is the Greek word for 'brothers’ and the Adam brothers gave their names to the streets which are still there today, John Adam Street and Lower Robert Street.

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