The garden of the Hesperides

Sims studied art at the National Art Training School, South Kensington, in Paris at the Académie Julian, and at the Royal Academy. Returning to Paris in 1903 to work under Baschet, he exhibited widely, often showing classical themes. He was elected R.A. in 1915 and was the keeper of the R.A. from 1920-1926. Grief-stricken by his son's death in the First World War, and his work as an official War Artist, his later paintings became increasingly tortured, and displayed – according to Sir Frank Dicksee, P.R.A., a ‘violent change in mentality’. In the present work he has taken the three dancing Graces from Botticelli's Primavera and interpreted them in a manner more associated with the Arts and Crafts movement..