The Cab Yard, Evening

This is one of a number of drawings and paintings that Robert Polhill Bevan made of cab yards and horse sales. It is a preliminary drawing for a painting and is squared-up for transfer to canvas.

All Bevan's cab yard works depict scenes at the Ormonde Yard, in St John’s Wood, close to the artist’s home in Adamson Road. This drawing is relatively highly-finished and the use of crayon conveys well the atmosphere and tones of a London evening instead of the usual sketched outlines It also shows activities normally hidden from public view, such as a horse being inspected and the manager of the yard paying an ostler or cabman which were becoming increasingly rare.

Bevan studied in both London and Paris. He was an original member of the Camden Town Group, which was founded in 1911.