Ennui
- Artist: Walter Richard Sickert
- Date: c.1914
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 1524 x 1124 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is the “Ennui” by Walter Richard Sickert, painted around 1914 in oil on canvas. The title literally means “boredom” in French, and that word is the lens through which you’ll look at the scene. In the centre of the room, a man and a woman sit close together yet turned in opposite directions, each staring off into space. Their lack of eye contact hints at an uneasy relationship, a quiet strain that Sickert keeps ambiguous. The surrounding décor amplifies the mood: a bell jar holding stuffed birds sits on a table, a small but powerful symbol of a suffocating environment. The furniture—a chest of drawers, a decanter, a cigar—suggests a domestic setting that feels both ordinary and claustrophobic. Sickert never tells you what’s happening; instead, he lays out the atmosphere and lets you decide whether it’s isolation, frustration, or simply the weight of everyday life. The painting invites viewers to explore those feelings, and its subtle composition—shadows, muted colors, careful brushwork—keeps the sense of unease lingering long after you’ve seen it.
See it in person
Ennui is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
