THE setting of a rare surviving painting by Camden Town Group artist Harry Rutherford has been identified – and shows how the decades have changed the look of Kentish Town.

The New Journal reported last week how the painting had been in a private collection since the 1970s – but was now due to by sold by Chiswick Auctions after being found in a house clearance. It was unclear which road Rutherford had depicted but an eagle-eyed reader believes it is the corner of Brecknock Road and Torriano Avenue.

Jackie Herald, an art historian and landscape architect, said it was the road close to where she lives: “I assume people would have thought it must be in Camden Town as he was known to be part of the Camden Town Group – but this is clearly Kentish Town.” The painting, which dates back to 1933, is one of the surviving pieces of work from Rutherford’s key pre-war period, when he was a contemporary of Walter Sickert.

In the picture, the now closed Leig­hton Arms pub is clearly visible, while on the left is a corner shop – now homes. Rutherford was the protégé of Walter Sickert and worked at his studio in Highbury Place, Highbury Fields. Rutherford’s own studio was wrecked by a bomb during the Blitz, destroying many of his pre-war works.

Rutherford’s painting and, below, Torriano Avenue as it is today

Ms Herald said: “It is the view from the Islington side of the street. I am always looking for views and working with perspectives so was interested in the gradient of the painting. Either Rutherford imagined the scene from a higher perspective or did he use a room in a house opposite? Perhaps he had friends there.”

She added: “There is a lovely quality of light up here and you can see a green corridor that runs along behind Brecknock Road. It is an important feature of this area.” The painting closely resembles another work, “Camden Town”, which Rutherford painted around 1935, now in the Royal Academy Collection.

David Hayes, from the Camden History Society, said he had begun researching the painting after reading last week’s New Journal. He said: “The Hovis and Vitbe legends on the left-hand corner shop [in the later painting] identify it as a baker’s.

If the image is enlarged, the inscription on the board to the left of the right-hand corner building clearly contains the word Meux’s, followed illegibly but probably by Famous Stout, the slogan displayed by the brewery on all its pubs.” He then searched for a road with a bakers and a pub and found the 1933 street directory lists the Leighton Arms and a bakery opposite owned by a Hilda Payne.

The painting is due to be auctioned in June with an estimate of £2,000 to £3,000.