Walter Sickert

The phrase ‘patient merit’ comes from Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, ‘to be, or not to be’. One of Sickert’s party tricks was to perform the play and to deliver the lines of not just Hamlet but all the lead parts. This print depicts a woman of humble means in her best clothes, and the lofty sentiment of the title jars with—but does not contradict—the subject. The plumed hat, double-breasted coat and stoical countenance identify the woman as the same model who appeared in paintings and drawings of circa 1912 [Baron 2006, nos. 392, 394]. Sickert apparently rediscovered a drawing of her and reworked it for this print, which was made over a decade later. This impression was printed for and presented by Sickert to his future wife, Thérèse Lessore (‘T.L.’), on Good Friday 1925. They married the following year. Sickert’s inscription describes this as an impression of the ‘first state’, which suggests he intended to rework the plate. Bromberg identified only one state, however. The only related preparatory drawing is in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, and the cancelled plate belongs to Leeds Art Gallery.