Oil on board: The Gullies (Covent Garden)

Producer: Snow, Peter

Date: 1960

Accession number: 2002.138

Measurements: 91.4 x 121.9 cm

This painting shows the back of Covent Garden's Maiden Lane behind Rules Restaurant. Rules was established as an oyster bar in 1789. By the end of the 20th century it was London's oldest restaurant, and celebrated worldwide. In 2002, Snow commented: 'Covent Garden has changed ever since 1960! I miss the market - but it became impossible. I believe Rules is still there … [I'd] eaten there when I had the studio'. Many of Snow's works focus on the atmosphere created by artificial light such as streetlamps. However the mood in this painting is created by natural light.