Original Artworks by David Bomberg
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David Bomberg’s work reflects a shift from early modernist abstraction to a more emotionally charged, expressive style. His early paintings show the influence of Cubism and Futurism, with bold lines and geometric structures that emphasise movement and form. But after his experience in the First World War, his style changed and he began to focus more on feeling, presence, and the inner life of his subjects.
In his later landscapes, whether of Spain, Palestine, or the British countryside, Bomberg worked with broad, gestural brushstrokes and rich, vivid colour. He wasn’t interested in detailed accuracy; he aimed to convey what he called the “spirit in the mass”, the energy and weight of a place or figure, felt rather than described.
Though he didn’t receive much recognition during his lifetime, his influence grew through his teaching, especially on artists like Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff. His paintings carry a sense of intensity and honesty that still resonates.
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Works
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Figure Composition (Stable Interior Series), 1919
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BiographyBorn to Polish-Jewish parents, David Bomberg was brought up in poverty in Whitechapel, London. He became close to fellow artists Mark Gertler, Isaac Rosenberg and Jacob Kramer, forming the ‘Whitechapel Boys’. In 1911 Bomberg began his studies at Slade School of Fine Art, under the tutelage of Walter Richard Sickert, and his style developed to combine cubism and futurism. In 1913 Bomberg was expelled from Slade and travelled to Paris with Jacob Epstein, where he met Derain, Modigliani and Picasso. His visual language stood out from his contemporaries in British art, fusing the European avant-garde he discovered with his Jewish heritage.
During World War I Bomberg served with the Royal Engineers in the trenches. Influenced by the ‘machine age’, in the immediate post-war years his work focused on angular formed hinged around figuration. Painted in 1919, Figure Composition displays a bridge between Bomberg’s earlier and later styles. The strong geometric forms and blocks of bold colour reference his earlier paintings and the influences of Cubism, while the less graphic tone is more akin to his work of the 1920s.
Bomberg created many series of paintings in his career such as Barges, Bomb Store and Ghetto Theatre. Figure Composition is part of his Stable Interior series. Composed of at least four works all created in 1919, this series examines the abstracted figure in a striking vertical format. One example from this series, Horses and Riders is now held in the collection of the Harris Museum.
Although he was widely exhibited and an influential teacher at Borough Polytechnic in London (1945-53), where his pupils included Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff, Bomberg died in poverty in 1957. There have been several major retrospectives of Bomberg’s work including at 1988 show at Tate curated by Richard Cork and at Pallant House, Chichester in 2017. Bomberg’s works are in many major international institutions, with both MoMA and Tate holding examples from 1919. -
FAQs
David Bomberg (1890–1957) was a British painter and was one of the most audacious of the exceptional generation of artists who studied at the Slade School of Art under Henry Tonks, and which included Mark Gertler, Stanley Spencer, C.R.W. Nevinson, and Dora Carrington. Bomberg painted a series of complex geometric compositions combining the influences of cubism and futurism in the years immediately preceding World War I; typically using a limited number of striking colours, turning humans into simple, angular shapes, and sometimes overlaying the whole painting a strong grid-work colouring scheme. His postwar disillusionment is most powerfully expressed in the masterly Ghetto Theatre (1920). Afterwards Bomberg made a series of peopled landscapes before travelling in 1923 to Jerusalem, where he began to work en plein air for the first time.
David Bomberg’s style evolved dramatically throughout his life. In his early years, he created highly abstract, geometric works influenced by Cubism and Futurism, focusing on the energy and structure of modern life. After serving in World War I, his style became more expressive and focused on capturing the physical and emotional power of landscapes and figures. His later paintings used thick brushstrokes and rich colour to convey a strong sense of form and atmosphere. Throughout his career, Bomberg sought to capture the “spirit in the mass” rather than surface appearances.
David Bomberg, after studiying art at City and Guilds in London, Bomberg returned to Birmingham to train as a lithographer but quit to study under Walter Sickert at Westminster School of Art from 1908 to 1910. Sickert's emphasis on the study of form and the representation of the "gross material facts" of urban life were an important early influence on Bomberg. He went on to the Slade School of Fine Art in London, one of the leading art schools of the time. He enrolled in 1911 and quickly made a strong impression with his bold, experimental drawings and paintings. While at the Slade, he won several prizes and was regarded as one of the most talented students of his generation. Despite early success, Bomberg’s radical style sometimes put him at odds with the more traditional views of the establishment. He was expelled from the Slade School of Art in 1913, with agreement between senior teachers Tonks, Frederick Brown and Philip Wilson Steer, because of the audacity of his breach from the conventional approach of that time. However it was his education at the Slade which laid the foundation for a career marked by innovation and change.
David Bomberg drew inspiration from a range of subjects throughout his life. Early on, he focused on the energy of the modern city, especially London, capturing its machinery, buildings, and crowded streets in dynamic, abstract forms. After his experiences in World War I, his focus shifted towards landscapes, particularly the rugged scenes of Palestine, Spain, and England. Bomberg was fascinated by the structure and spirit of natural forms, aiming to convey the deep physical and emotional presence of a place rather than just its appearance. His work often reflects a powerful sense of connection to the land. Following expeditions to Jericho, Petra and Wadi Kelt, he produced a series of detailed, realistic landscapes, which evolved from tightly topographical treatments into a looser, characteristically expressionistic style, heralding the painterly achievements of his final years.
Yes, David Bomberg was an influential teacher, most notably at the Borough Polytechnic in London (now London South Bank University). There, he encouraged his students to focus on the expressive power of form and structure rather than surface details. His approach to teaching was deeply personal, stressing emotional engagement with the subject. Several of his students went on to form the Borough Group, carrying forward his ideas about painting. his pupils included Frank Auerbach, Leon Kossoff, Philip Holmes, Cliff Holden, Edna Mann, Dorothy Mead, Gustav Metzger, Dennis Creffield, Cecil Bailey, and Miles Richmond. David Bomberg House, one of the student halls of residences at London South Bank University, is named in his honour. Though he struggled for recognition during his lifetime, Bomberg’s impact as a teacher has been lasting and is seen as a major part of his legacy.
During his lifetime, David Bomberg often struggled for recognition, as his evolving style did not always align with the dominant trends in British art. Although he achieved early success, his later, more expressive works were sometimes overlooked by critics and institutions. After his death in 1957, however, interest in his work grew steadily. Today, Bomberg is regarded as one of the most important British artists of the 20th century. Exhibitions and critical reassessments have highlighted his bold experimentation, emotional depth, and lasting influence on generations of artists.
