David Bomberg

The Artist's family
Sale, Christie's London, 8th November 1990, lot 95, where acquired by the previous owner
Private Collection
Their sale, Christie's London, 4th June 2004, lot 93, where acquired by the present owner

Sound board. There is some minor flattening to some of the thicker raised areas of impasto, with some very minor slight possible frame abrasion along the right edge, but this excepting the work appears in excellent overall condition. There is an unfinished oil study on the reverse. Ultraviolet light reveals areas of fluorescence which appear in keeping with the nature of the materials and do not suggest retouchings. Housed in a tight dark wooden frame. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
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There is an unfinished portrait study on the reverse of the present work.

Sitting outside of the mainstream of British artistic life for most of his career, the art of David Bomberg has, in the past, been shamefully overlooked by the establishment.  Instead it tends to be his role as tutor to some of the now most recognised names of the Post-War art scene that achieves the greatest degree of coverage.  At his classes at the Borough Polytechnic he led artists including Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff towards their distinct and easily recognisable style, stripping away the irrelevant to get to the true heart of their subject matter.  Much like his protégées Kossoff and Auerbach, Bomberg paid particular attention to the genre of portraiture, and in particular self-portraits as a means through which to explore not only questions of the self, but also the medium in which he worked.  Pushing and sweeping bold, thick, glossy strokes of thick, viscous paint, as seen so masterfully in lots 153 and 154, which form such a distinct contrast from the lightness of his later landscape studies.

The Artist worked in Palestine from 1923-27, a visit initially prompted by a commission set by Sir Muirhead Bone from the Zionist Organisation to record their work in the area.  Through further assistance and encouragement of patrons such as Sir Edward Marsh, Bomberg came into contact with Sir Ronald Storrs, Military Governor of Jerusalem, who not only bought several paintings from the artist, but encouraged others to do likewise.  Through his large-scale panoramas, too, as here, his smaller, freer painted oil sketches and drawings, such as lot 157, which reduce the city to essential forms, we are able to see the development of his later paintings of Toledo, Cuenca and Ronda (lot 156), and even onwards towards the rich, luscious landscapes of the Welsh landscape around Snowdonia (lot 155).  Bomberg saw these landscape paintings as an extension and widening of the prime interest of his earlier works, in particular with regards to their pictorial structure.  Here with thickly brushed strokes of rich, chalky paint the artist builds a physical surface that mirrors the warm, blocky Palestinian architecture, or the luscious and looming Welsh mountains.  Details are almost completely banished, with the nuances of light and shadow being the vehicle by which the spatial recession of the subject is constructed.

Sarah MacDougall and Rachel Dickson, senior curators at Ben Uri, are currently preparing a new monograph on the work of David Bomberg, which Lund Humphries plan to publish in 2017. They would be interested in hearing from any owners of works by the artist for possible inclusion in the book.  Please write to Sarah MacDougall & Rachel Dickson, c/o Sotheby's Modern & Post-War British Art, 34-35 New Bond Street, London, W1A 2AA.