The Strange Case of the Disappearing Artist

For a while now I have been trying unsuccessfully to discover the name of an artist who lived in Reading, probably Caversham, possibly in the 1920s. I have failed to discover this on google and am too bone idle to go to Reading Museum and Art Gallery to ask them there. The museum's website seems useless to me.

I believe that RM&AG have some of this chap's work - namely, portrait of Isobel Loam (Reading character - do ask for details), a what was regarded as blasphemous half finished picture entitled "The Last Supper" and a what has been called a regional art treasure painting of a child in her high chair. I cannot remember the name of this last but I think it features a girl's name and a meal - eg. "Hannah's Teatime".

This artist has a relatively common name that is spelt (!) unconventionally. I had thought it was Symonds but I have had no luck with that. This artist apparently had some unpleasantness connected with him (but don't they all?) and was supposedly something of an eccentric - taken to riding about Caversham in a cart pulled by a donkey - was what I heard.

Anyway, what all this amounts to is A BLOG IN MARCH. Trying harder to arrest slippage of standards.