These Days..
One of the last of my paintings in 2004 was of Brothers’ Fish Shop, situated in a row of small businesses on Commercial Road. So, when I took up painting the East End again in 2016, I was surprised to see this parade of shops still standing. I made two small paintings of the Emporium and the Pharmacy, which were closed by then but still retained their dignity. Three years later in 2019, I heard that these shops had finally ‘bitten the dust’ but that the Taxicab Office was still there, which resulted in ‘Still Standing’, the title of my exhibition in 2020.
Its survival against all the odds interested me sufficiently to paint the Taxi Cab Office again. It was initially given the title of ‘All that remains’ but I heard a few months ago that the building, the last survivor of the row of small businesses, had now also been razed to the ground. I changed the title to ‘These Days….’ partly because of the poster on view referring to COVIDand partly because these days what else can you expect other than demolition? There will be no more paintings of this part of Commercial Road.
Title: These Days Oil on canvas, framed
Date: 2022
Size: 61cm h x 76cm w
SOLD