Algernon Cecil Newton

A painter of urban scenes and landscapes, Algernon Newton was born in Hampstead, London. He studied at the London School of Art, Kensington and his first one-man show was held at the Leicester Galleries in 1931. He has worked in Cornwall and in Yorkshire as well as London.

Sunset, Hove is one of Newton’s most populated paintings. Figural groups are rhythmically placed throughout the composition while the setting sun casting long shadows on the promenade.

A pencil sketch for the present work is in the collection of the Tate Gallery, London. Depicting the junction of Waterloo Street and Kingway Promenade looking from Brighton towards Hove, it is dated to March of 1928 and executed on headed paper from the Queen's Hotel Brighton. The present painting was finished by June and exhibited at Colnaghi in October of the same year. In reviewing the exhibition, The Spectator highlights Newton and this work for both its timeless, yet modern approach: 'At first sight Mr. Algernon Newton's Portland Place and Sunset, Hove, with their Canaletto-like formality, and golden brown atmosphere appear to be old masters, but inspection reveals Motor-cars and ladies in short skirts, and the illusion vanishes. They are, however, immensely clever, and should act as valuable records of an architecture now rapidly disappearing.' (The Spectator, 20 October 1928, pp. 11-12).

The picture was bought from the 1928 exhibition by Walton Stanton Brewster (1872-1954), the Chicago based collector and his wife Kate. Brewster was governor of the Chicago Stock Exchange and trustee of The Arts Institute of Chicago; his collection extended to major works by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Degas and Picasso as well as an extensive holding of etchings by Whistler.