John Allin 1934-1991
Brick Lane and Heneage Street, 1975
lithograph on paper
49 x 46.2 cm
signed and dated (lower right): 'John Allin 75'
1987-6ii
© John Allin estate
Photo: Ben Uri Gallery and Museum
Allin depicts the intersection between Brick Lane and Heneage Street in Spitalfields, the area which has housed successive generations of immigrant textile makers: from the French Huguenot refugee weavers in...
Allin depicts the intersection between Brick Lane and Heneage Street in Spitalfields, the area which has housed successive generations of immigrant textile makers: from the French Huguenot refugee weavers in the 17th century, to the Jewish tailors who settled in the 19th-20th century - giving rise to the 'Schmattes' (rag trade) - later succeeded by the Bangladeshi community. Drawing on memories of his East End childhood, he includes a rabbi chatting to a group of young men outside the Heneage Street Synagogue (which closed in 1972), with Pendora’s ‘universal’ fashions above, and a horse-drawn cart trundling slowly down Brick Lane in the background.