L’Américaine
- Artist: Walter Richard Sickert
- Date: 1908
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 508 x 406 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “L’Américaine” by Walter Richard Sickert, painted in 1908 as an oil on canvas. Picture a young London woman—what Sickert calls a costergirl—busy at a market stall, her basket of food already arranged for sale. She wears a wide brimmed hat that seems almost too large; the artist uses trompe‑l’œil to exaggerate its crown so it appears to extend both inside and outside the head shape.
Sickert was active on both sides of the Channel: he showed work in Paris as well as in London, and the French title probably came after his dealer Bernheim Jeune displayed this piece in Paris. The painting captures a quiet moment of domestic activity: she looks down from her height, her posture relaxed yet attentive, a snapshot of everyday life in early‑twentieth‑century London.
The canvas measures about 50 cm by 40 cm—small enough to bring you close—but the detail is intense: the light on her clothes, the shadow under the basket, and the little barrow that’s part of the scene. It’s a charming slice of urban life, rendered with Sickert’s characteristic palette and brushwork, offering both color vibrancy and subtle realism. The work remains in Tate Britain’s historic collection where you can appreciate its size and detail up close‑up.
See it in person
L’Américaine 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.
