Walter Sickert and Patricia Cornwell

‘It’s bizarre to consider that Jack the Ripper was awarded an honorary doctorate from Reading University’ (Patricia Cornwell, 2017, Ripper: the Secret Life of Walter Sickert, p. 436)


Anyone reading my previous post about Walter Sickert’s degree ceremony  might wonder why, in 2002, a famous American thriller writer should  fund the conservation of Sickert’s drawings in the University’s art collection.

Café Chanteuse, c.1904, one of 18 drawings by Walter Sickert in the University of Reading Art Collection (UAC/10531)

The author in question is Patricia Cornwell, best known for her series of crime thrillers featuring Kay Scarpetta, a forensic expert and medical examiner. Following an invitation to tour Scotland Yard in 2001,  Cornwell became convinced that Walter Sickert was responsible for the Whitechapel murders, and has expounded on her theories in interviews, documentaries and three books.

Having once worked as an analyst for the Chief Medical Examination in Richmond, Virginia, she resolved to conduct a forensic investigation into Sickert’s connection to the Jack the Ripper cases:

‘Walter Sickert was connected with Jack the Ripper long before I appeared on the scene. I’m not the first one to think of him. But I’m the first to investigate him the same way we would a suspect today.’ (Cornwell, 2017, p. 448)

The Donation

Cornwell’s donation was news to me when I read about it in Naomi Lebens’ ‘Rubens to Sickert: the Study of Drawing’ (2021), but I remembered that in 2001 or 2002, Dr Sue Malvern, Senior Lecturer in the History of Art Department, had been approached by Cornwell while she was working in an archive somewhere. Dr Malvern remembers it like this:

‘The Cornwell story is fairly convoluted. I did meet her in an archive. I can’t remember exactly where, possibly the archives at the Tate. She was pursuing a theory that Walter Sickert was Jack the Ripper, and was there with her assistant. I’m not a Sickert scholar but suggested Anna Robins who is. Anna Robins appears in a BBC Omnibus programme, Patricia Cornwell Stalking the Ripper,  30 Oct 2002. It’s still available on iplayer. So it was a long time ago, but I’m sure that’s how Cornwell came to make a donation… (Email, 26 April 2024)

Anna Gruetzner Robins, Professor Emerita in the School of Art at Reading, is a leading authority on the art of Walter Sickert who advised Cornwell during the latter’s research into the Ripper connection. The contribution of Professor Robins and her department has been acknowledged in Cornwell’s books – Robins is mentioned as part of Cornwell’s team – and, of course, through Cornwell’s donation to the Art Collection.

Woman Lying on a Couch (Study for Ennui, c.1912) by Walter Sickert (University of Reading Art Collection UAC/10524)
Cornwell’s Mission

Patricial Cornwell  has spared no expense in accumulating evidence for a link between Sickert and the murders and in identifying other possible victims. She has gathered together experts on Sickert, sex crimes, the history of art, forensic science and psychological profiling. She has overseen analyses of DNA, fingerprints, handwriting and writing paper and conducted simulated reconstructions of stabbing. She has gone to great lengths to root out coincidences and circumstantial evidence. These are hedged by frequent caveats in her books. Even by October 2002, she claimed to have spent over six million dollars in pursuit of her goal.

Her BBC Omnibus programme, ‘Stalking the Ripper’, is strongly autobiographical and addresses her motivation. Scotland Yard, she states, is too overwhelmed with recent crime to bother with historical cases, whereas she, Cornwell, has the time and resources to carry out what she refers to as ‘my crusade’:

‘…my mission is to bring about justice in the only way I know how which is to identify the person who did it.’

Controversy

It goes without saying that Cornwell’s views are highly controversial. Reviews of her books range from enthusiasm to total scepticism. After all, Sickert is only one of many suspects whose names have been put forward over the years. What seems a little worrying about Cornwell’s mission is her absolute, unwavering conviction and total commitment to proving her case

Professor Robins has herself commented on the claims that Sickert was the Whitechapel murderer. Originally in 1996, her position was that, ‘The case against Sickert is laughable’ (Robins, 1996, p. 32).

More recently, however, some two decades after the original collaboration, Professor Robins has published an overview of the most reliable evidence, though without a single mention of Cornwell: there appears to be no doubt that Sickert was obsessed with the murders and there is strong evidence that he was the author of letters purporting to come from the Ripper. Nevertheless she concludes that:

‘There is no proof that Sickert was Jack the Ripper and claims in books written on the subject cannot conclusively be verified…’ (Robins, 2017, p. 220)

Sickert’s identification with Jack the Ripper was deeply embedded in his psyche, but it does not mean that he was the killer… We will never know exactly why Sickert wrote those letters. Their confessional character, together with their taunting tone, is troublesome, but they could be part of a complicated game by a very complicated artist, who taunted ‘catch me if you can’. He was by no means the only one to confess to a crime that he did not commit.’ (Robins, 2017, p. 221)

Postscript

Cornwell’s books are not always a comfortable read; we are spared none of the gory details of the murders and of Sickert’s own affliction. In some ways these echo the moral outrage stirred up by the popular press of the time.

The Whitechapel murders have fascinated people for nearly 140 years. There are those, however, who are uncomfortable with the almost prurient focus on the killings themselves and the fixation on the identity of the perpetrator – an obsession that continues to this day.

At the same time, descendants of the murdered women have been expressing their own disappointment that the victims have simply been dismissed as common prostitutes who barely mattered (Sleator, 2025). Members of their families have been demanding an inquest in the light of DNA evidence suggesting the murderer was, in fact, a Polish barber called Aaron Kaminski, a conclusion that echoes that of the BBC’s ‘Jack the Ripper – The Case Reopened’ fronted by Emila Fox in 2019 (a programme that unequivocally exonerated Sickert).

It is interesting, therefore, that within the last few weeks the BBC has broadcast yet another documentary about the murders. The programme, in the series ‘Lucy Worsley Investigates’, bears the title ‘Jack the Ripper’  but has deliberately and overtly avoided any speculation about the Ripper’s identity. Instead, the focus is on the sensationalist press reporting, the moral panic, and particularly on the social conditions in Whitechapel where vulnerable, impoverished women could end up on the streets through no fault of their own.

The programme draws on research by the social historian Hallie Rubenhold whose book ‘The Five’ (referring to the ‘canonical five’ Ripper victims) has received critical acclaim for its compassionate insights into the lives of the murdered women and its rejection of previous popular stereotypes about the women as sex workers.

Thanks to:

Dr Hannah Lyons, Curator of University Art Collections, for permission to reproduce Sickert’s drawings; Dr Sue Malvern for confirming her original contact with Partricia Cornwell; Anna Gruetzner Robins, Professor Emerita in History of Art, for directing me to her chapter about Sickert and the Whitechapel murders.

Sources

Cornwell, P. (2002). Portrait of a killer: Jack the Ripper – case closed. London: Little Brown.

Cornwell, P. (2014). Chasing the Ripper. Seattle: Thomas & Mercer.

Cornwell, P. (2017). Ripper: the secret life of Walter Sickert. Seattle: Thomas & Mercer.

Lebens, N. (Ed.). (2021). Rubens to Sickert: the study of drawing. Reading: University of Reading.

Robins, A. G. (1996). Walter Sickert: drawings. Theory and practice: word and image. Aldershot: Scolar Press.

Robins, A. G. (2022). ‘Catch me if you can’: Sickert and Jack the Ripper. In E. Chambers (Ed.), Walter Sickert (pp. 220-22). London: Tate Publishing.

Rubenhold, H. (2019). The Five: the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper. London: Doubleday.

Sleator, L. (January 14 2025). Families of Jack the Ripper victims call for inquest ‘to show they mattered’. The Times, p. 17.

A Random Recollection of Walter Sickert

Between August 1981 and January 1982 and again in November 1984, a small group of senior members of the University met on eight occasions to reminisce about their time at Reading.

The bulk of these discussions took place between Johnny Johnson, the Registrar and Tommy Sibly, Sub-Dean of the Faculty of Science. Other contributors were Keith Hodgson, Senior Administrative Assistant in the Registrar’s Office, and Professor ‘Perce’ Allen from Geology.

Most meetings took place in the Registrar’s office where they were recorded on reel-to-reel tape recorders, transcribed and published in a bound volume, probably in 1984.

University of Reading Special Collections

Although there is some structure to the collection, being organised under headings such as ‘people’, ‘events’ and ‘changes’, the term ‘random’ in the title is entirely appropriate. The content consists of anecdotes, hearsay, personal opinions, who was living with whom,  humorous slants on colleagues, and the like. There is much gossip, some of which seems rather malicious, and sometimes one has to be wary of what to treat as a true account.

Inside the front cover is a letter from Professor Cyril Tyler (Deputy Vice-Chancellor 1968-76) in which he states:

‘I have read the “Random Recollections …” and find them too biased to be valuable as a contribution to University history.’

He was particularly uneasy about subjective judgements concerning those colleagues selected for praise and those who were omitted. Attached to the letter is a three-page list of corrections and comments.

Nevertheless, the reminiscences are interesting, often amusing, and sometimes shocking even in consideration of the culture of the time. In spite of Professor Tyler’s reservations, the core of much of the content can be verified from other sources such as Professor Holt’s history of the University, archive material in the University’s Special Collections and autobiographies of some of the personalities mentioned. Nevertheless, no doubt some details have been embellished or exaggerated in the telling.

Johnny Johnson (left) and Tommy Sibly (right) reminiscing in the early 1980s (University of Reading Special Collections)

It is worth noting that Tommy Sibly was the son of Sir Franklin Sibly, Vice-Chancellor from 1929 to 1946, and so able to give the inside story on people and events that concerned his father.

Tommy Sibly (right) on the occasion of his retirement, 28 Sept 1989. On the left is Professor Monty Frey, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (University Bulletin, November 1989)

One narrative that amusingly delves well behind the scene of the official record is the story of how an honorary degree was awarded to the artist Walter Sickert.

Walter Richard Sickert(1860-1942)

By the 1930s Sickert was already regarded as one of the most prominent artists in the UK; according to Virginia Woolf writing in the 1930s,  he had ‘no illusions about his own greatness’ ( Robins, 2000, p. xxvii). In 1938 he was awarded an honorary DLitt by Reading University, the result of a close friendship with James Anthony Betts (1897-1980), Head of the Fine Art Department at Reading. On his appointment in 1933, Betts breathed new life into the department, prioritised the role of drawing, and both he and his department were heavily influenced by Sickert’s work.

Betts continue to lead Fine Art for another 30 years and during the 1950s  put together an impressive collection of drawings that included 18 works by Sickert. These were bought by the University from the Betts family in 1994, and in 2002 the Sickert drawings were conserved, funded by  a donation from Patricia Cornwell, the bestselling American thriller writer.

The Ceremony

The official account of Sickert’s Degree honoris causa, published in the Reading University Gazette reports that he was awarded his degree on 20 June 1938 alongside, among others, The Right Honourable Neville Chamberlain the then British Prime Minister.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Frank Stenton, presented each honorary graduand to the congregation with a short speech:

‘Mr. Chancellor, The work of RICHARD SICKERT cuts across all the usual categories of artistic discussion. In regard to him, the familiar distinction between traditionalism and modernity is meaningless; and artists who belong to the most widely divergent of schools are agreed in acknowledging the greatness of his achievement … In the international world of art he is acknowledged everywhere; examples of his work will be found in every gallery which truly represents the history of modern painting, and younger men in every continent have responded to the force of his example …’ (p. 48).

Anthony Betts and Walter Sickert at the Great Hall, 20June 1938 (reproduced with permission from the Betts’ Family Archive)
The Unofficial account

The above eulogy, no doubt put together by Professor Betts, makes no mention of Sickert’s eccentricities. The version constructed by Johnny Johnson and Tommy Sibly, on the other hand, takes delight in recounting his outrageous behaviour.

It seems that there was a tradition for the University to treat honorary graduands to a slap-up lunch in Wantage Hall with nothing spared. June 20, 1938 was no exception:

‘J[ohnson]. … Well, Sickert turned up at Wantage Hall dressed in a tweed jacket, grey flannels and carpet slippers, which was not quite the thing; nevertheless Sickert was Sickert and during the lunch he proceeded to get absolutely plastered, there’s no question about it. Halfway through the lunch … he spotted Sir Hugh Allen [a fellow honorary graduand], who was Director of Music [at Reading] at the time, right at the other end of the hall, but he persisted in having a conversation with Hugh Allen throughout the lunch. I’m told that at one stage, presumably towards the end of the lunch, they burst into song as they were old friends … So by the end of the lunch Sickert was really drunk, and everybody was getting a bit worried about what to do with him.’ (p. 151).

Fortunately, there was a hiccup in the arrangement for taxis to take participants from Wantage Hall down to the Great Hall on London Road. This gave Anthony Betts and John Waldie, lecturer in Agricultural Botany and the new Warden of Wantage, enough time to take Sickert into the Warden’s lodge, fill him with as much black coffee as he could take and put him into the last taxi.

By the time Sickert reached the hall, he was behaving himself until it was his turn to be admitted:

‘… it was fairly apparent that as he was standing up on the platform he was also swaying gently all through the speech! Then the real payoff  came … as he leaned across the mace to shake hands with Lord Templewood [then Samuel Hoare the University’s Chancellor] he just breathed into the microphone, “Bloody good lunch, wasn’t it?” (p.152).

At this point, Tommy Sibly takes up the story of the aftermath. Somehow they got Sickert to Reading Station:

‘… it was going to be very difficult getting him through the subway and up the steps the other side, so they got the luggage lift. I think it was while they were actually in the lift, or it might have been after they had got up to the top, Sickert suddenly said, “Oh Betts, I haven’t said goodbye to your wife” …. He had to be taken back to the luggage lift, and had to go up to Betts’ house and see Mrs Betts before he was finally dispatched.  (p. 152).

Caveat

It’s a good story! But let’s not forget that the event took place in 1938, some 43 years before Tommy Sibly and Johnny Johnson made their recording. Neither was present at the time; Johnson’s sources were John Waldie of Wantage Hall and Anthony Betts himself. The only doubt Johnson expressed about the veracity of the tale was to do with Sickert and Sir Hugh Allen Bursting into song. However, Sibly insisted that he had heard the same from his father.

So, at least the essence of the story appears to be true. Whether the same applies to all the details is another matter.

Sources

Betts’ Family Archive.

Holt, J. C. (1977). The University of Reading: the first fifty years. Reading: University of Reading Press.

Johnson, J. F. & Sibly, T. C. F. (c1984). Random Recollections of the University of Reading. Reading: University of Reading.

Lebens, N. (Ed.). (2021). Rubens to Sickert: the study of drawing. Reading: University of Reading.

Reading University Gazette, Vol. XI. No. 3. July 19, 1938.

Robins, A. G. (1996). Walter Sickert: drawings. Theory and practice: word and image. Aldershot: Scolar Press.

Robins, A. G. (Ed.). (2000). Walter Sickert: the complete writings on art. Oxford: OUP.

University of Reading. Bulletin, no. 227, November 1989.