s A Badminton Court, 1926 - Hull Museums Collections

A Badminton Court, 1926

Elwell’s focus in this painting is not upon the badminton itself, but upon the social interactions of the figures in the scene. Indeed, one critic described the man astride the chair as ‘someone who has borrowed a racquet off a friend just to get at the girls in the team.’ The composition of the painting, with its rigid division of foreground and background, leads the eye directly to the figures at the front of the court, with those in the background being only of incidental interest. More formal preoccupations typical to Elwell’s work are the light effects he creates by combining the glowing stove and a freshly struck match with the whiter light which appears from a hidden source above. The badminton court featured in the painting is thought to have been part of the Assembly Rooms in Norwood, Beverley. Oil on panel. Presented in 1959 by A. L. Rapstone.