Artwork of the Month: Eastenders on Thursday by Anita Klein
17 February 2025
This month, the artwork was chosen voted on by subscribers to our Staff Arts newsletter.
About the artwork:
This month, we shortlisted artworks which represented themes related to Valentine’s Day, celebrated on 14 of February. Subscribers to the Staff Arts Club newsletter voted for this artwork, Eastenders on Thursday, by Anita Klein.
In this artwork, we see a familiar scene of a family crowded round the television to watch an episode of the series Eastenders. The family only just fit in the confines of the frame, this and their dynamic poses and proximity suggest a relaxed and intimate scene. We shortlisted this artwork because Valentine’s Day is not just a day to celebrate romantic love but an opportunity to celebrate all kinds of love, such as the love between families, and the love between friends. Valentine’s Day is about spending time with and expressing our love for all those we care about.
Eastenders on Thursday by Anita Klein is made using a technique called dry point etching. This technique involves using a pointed tool to scratch a design into a soft metal, like copper or zinc, or plastic plate. It’s like drawing the design onto the plate without ink, and the texture of the lines creates a blurred edge which can be seen in Klein’s work.
Before printing, the paper the design will be printed on to is soaked in water and blotted, so that it will soak up the ink better. Then the plate is coated with ink and the excess is wiped away before it can be placed ink side down on the plate and run through a printing press.
About the artist:
Anita Klein (1960-) is an Australian artist who creates artworks using a variety of techniques, including: paintings, drawings, prints, ceramics, sculpture, and stained glass. Born in Sydney, Australia, Klein studied at both Chelsea School of Art and Slade School of Art. She has also served as an Elected Associate, Elected Fellow and President of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers. She has held many solo exhibitions, and been part of group exhibitions, in the UK, Sweden, Australia, Greece and the USA.
Klein’s work explores themes of domesticity, motherhood, familial and romantic love. With artworks depicting everyday moments such as dinners with friends, cooking with her family, listening to her children practising musical instruments, and of course, watching Eastenders, Klein invites the audience of her work to share in her joy of ordinary life.
We have a number of artworks by Anita Klein in the St George's Art and Heritage Collection. Her artwork, Planting Out, was our Artwork of the Month in February 2022, read more about it here.
Arts St George’s (part of St George’s Hospital Charity) is the arts programme for St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. To find out more, follow us on socials @artsstgeorges, or follow Arts St George's - St George's Hospital Charity
The 'Our Hospital: conserving, curating and responding to St George’s Art and Heritage Collection’ is a three-year project, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and made possible by money raised by National Lottery players. The project is focusing on conserving, cataloguing, reinterpreting and digitising St George’s Hospital’s unique Art and Heritage Collection so it can be enjoyed by many more people.
