Sir Cedric Morris (1889-1982)

'Observation of people was always important, and in the Paris years in particular Cedric seems to have been a continuous observer of human types, recording their activities and idiosyncrasies, as a number of drawings in bars and cafes attest. Genre scenes such as No. 10 [the present work] ... seem to anticipate Burra (whom Cedric knew in Paris and London) in their amused and not unsympathetic absorption in other people's lives and their milieu. Cedric was very much a watcher'. (Exhibition catalogue, Cedric Morris, Tate Gallery, London, 1984, p. 28).