Jack the Ripper’s Bedroom is a 1907 oil on canvas Impressionist painting by German-born British painter and printmaker artist Walter Sickert (1860 – 1942). Walter Sickert’s Jack the Ripper’s Bedroom can be found in the Manchester Art Gallery in the United Kingdom.
Analysis of Jack the Ripper’s Bedroom
Jack the Ripper’s Bedroom was painted 16 years after the Whitechapel Murders ended in 1891 and the painting has significant notoriety with implications that Sickert was Jack the Ripper himself, although these have been largely dismissed in recent years.
Jack the Ripper’s Bedroom is an imaginary vision by painter Walter Sickert of his contemporary — the world’s most famous serial killer — in a rented room in the North-West of London. This painting is the primary reason why Sickert himself has been studied after his death by The Ripper’s countless analysts as perhaps being Jack the Ripper.
Painted in characteristically vague splotches of color taken from a narrow range of pigments (all blacks and browns), Sickert’s canvas — today somewhat degraded — seemingly shows a doorway into a room. Inside, in the middle, at some distance and right in front of a blinded window, stands a seemingly male figure all in black — with no head.
It is a vertical canvas defined by strong vertical geometries: doorframes, the chair in the bottom-left, the doors of the armoire, the tall window, and, most spectacularly, the utterly mysterious human subject standing before us — all point us upwards. At the same time, the off-center perspective beloved by Sickert is so elevated with respect to the threshold as to imply that we are in fact standing face to face with this man in black.
The man in the picture, whom we instinctively suppose to be The Ripper, is depicted without a head. The part of his anatomy which would most clearly indicate who he is has been left out, suggesting that Sickert, like the rest of us, does not know his identity. In fact, the more we look the more we realize that every detail that could help us identify him as against other men has been studiously obliterated.
We merely see a human shape of at least average height. We assume him to be a man on account of his posture and clothing. It is entirely black, including his shoes, except for an orange strip which might be a belt, if it is not a decoration. He also wears an impeccably black long coat that reaches down to the carpet.
He is a thrillingly ominous figure that we appear to have chanced upon. Or, perhaps, he is waiting for us as he knew we were coming…
The picture originates with the seemingly accidental occurrence of Sickert renting a room in North-West London (Mornington Crescent 6, Somers Town) and being told by his landlady that, according to her, Jack the Ripper may have once lived there. He would have supposedly lived there in 1881. The Ripper then committed his gruesome killings in 1888, and Sickert executed his painting between 1905 and 1907.
Although biographers have pointed out Walter Sickert’s likely absence from England at the time of The Ripper’s alleged murders, and despite the fact that Sickert was never seriously discussed as a suspect by the mainstream historians of the Ripper case, the hypothesis has surfaced occasionally in both fiction and non-fiction that Walter Sickert was in fact Jack the Ripper.
Sickert was, however, like many of his contemporaries, engrossed with the story of the Ripper murders. He was similarly attracted by the Camden Town Murder of 1907 which, like the Ripper murders, involved a prostitute as a victim.
Although the four paintings of that series are today known as “The Camden Town Murder”, Sickert’s own titles have to do with his interest in the material conditions of the beleaguered and the destitute.
Walter Sickert
Walter Sickert (1860-1942) was an English painter and printmaker who is often associated with the Camden Town Group, a group of artists who were active in London in the early 20th century. Sickert’s work is characterized by its atmospheric quality and its focus on everyday subjects, including portraits, street scenes, and interiors.
Sickert was born in Munich to an English mother and German father and spent much of his childhood in England. He studied art in Munich and Paris before returning to London, where he established himself as a painter and became associated with the Camden Town Group.
One of Sickert’s most famous works is “Ennui,” a painting that depicts a woman sitting in a dimly lit room. The painting is notable for its sense of ennui or boredom, and for its use of muted colors and shadowy tones. Another notable work is “The Camden Town Murder,” a series of paintings that were inspired by a real-life murder case.
Sickert’s work was influenced by a range of artists, including Edgar Degas and James McNeill Whistler. He also had a significant impact on later generations of artists, including the British pop artist David Hockney.
Sickert was also known for his interest in the theater, and he often painted actors and actresses. He was also involved in the development of the Camden Town Group’s annual exhibitions, which were designed to showcase the work of emerging artists.
Despite his success as an artist, Sickert’s personal life was often turbulent. He was married several times and had a reputation for being a difficult and unpredictable personality. In his later years, he became increasingly reclusive and withdrew from the art world. Nonetheless, his legacy as a painter and printmaker continues to be celebrated today.
The Whitechapel Murders
The Whitechapel murders, also known as the Jack the Ripper murders, were a series of brutal and unsolved killings that occurred in the Whitechapel area of London, England in 1888. The murders, which targeted women who were working as prostitutes, were characterized by their gruesome nature, with the victims often being mutilated and disemboweled.
The first murder in the series was that of Mary Ann Nichols, whose body was discovered on August 31, 1888. She had been killed by a deep slash to her throat and had several other cuts on her body. The second victim, Annie Chapman, was killed just a few days later on September 8. Her body was found in the backyard of a house in Whitechapel, and she had been subjected to extensive mutilation.
The third victim, Elizabeth Stride, was killed on September 30. Her body was found with a deep cut to her throat, but she had not been mutilated like the previous victims. It is believed that the killer was interrupted during the attack and fled the scene before he could finish.
The same night as Elizabeth Stride’s murder, another victim, Catherine Eddowes, was killed in nearby Mitre Square. Her body was found with extensive mutilation, including the removal of her uterus and left kidney. A piece of her apron, stained with blood, was found nearby and contained a cryptic message that became known as the “From Hell” letter.
The final victim in the series, Mary Jane Kelly, was killed on November 9. Her body was found in her room, and she had been subjected to extreme mutilation, with her organs removed and her face disfigured beyond recognition.
The killings caused a sensation in the media and led to widespread fear and panic in London. The killer, who became known as Jack the Ripper, was never caught or identified, and his identity remains a mystery to this day.
Despite numerous suspects being named and investigated, including a number of doctors and members of the aristocracy, the killer was never definitively identified. Some of the more popular suspects include a Polish immigrant named Aaron Kosminski, a doctor named Thomas Neill Cream, and even Queen Victoria’s grandson, Prince Albert Victor.
The legacy of the Whitechapel murders has had a lasting impact on popular culture, with countless books, films, and television shows being produced about the case. The killings have also had an impact on criminal investigation techniques, with the case being one of the first to make use of forensic science and criminal profiling.