Provenance
The Artist's Estate
Note: Albert Wainwright was born in Castleford, in the Wakefield district, and was a classmate of Henry Moore. Photographs and letters in Wakefield’s archive show that the two men were close friends as soldiers during the First World War, writing beautifully illustrated letters to one another.
In 1920 Wainwright received his first one-man exhibition at Leeds City Art Gallery, aged just 22.
Unlike Henry Moore, Wainwright was not a good self-promoter or networker. He was quite happy working locally with the people he knew. He made hundreds of costume and set designs for theatre productions, many of which have not survived. Gradually, his work became largely forgotten after his premature death in 1943.