Despair

Despair, a sketch of two woman dressed in white, one of whom is seated with her head bowed, comes without context or interpretation. It is likely to have been shown at the Leicester Galleries where Pryse's work was exhibited in 1917, just after he enlisted for military service. Despite his aristocratic background - the Pryses traced their lineage to the court of Charles I - the painter had strong socialist principles and among his earliest works were posters for the newly-formed Labour Party, as well as illustrations for The Graphic in a style that owed much to Frank Brangwyn. At the outbreak of war he produced patriotic lithographs and recruiting posters. It is likely that the present work, one of his rare oil paintings, depicts a scene all too common at the time, when news of a death in the trenches reaches loved ones at home.

On active service, Pryse won the Military Cross and the Croix de Guerre. After the war he resumed his career as a poster artist, working for the British Empire Exhibition in 1924, visiting Morocco to record scenes of Arab life, and later, West Africa on a commission from the Empire Marketing Board. His painting style, as the present work demonstrates, owes much Charles Wellington Furze in its swift sketchiness. Writing about his work in 1917, Herbert Furst declared that this shorthand was not a 'neglect of finish' and the 'powerful appeal' of his work came not from 'fore-knowledge of aesthetic theory' but struck directly 'through the eye to the heart'. (Colour, vol 7, no 1, August 1917, p. 7).