David Bomberg (1890–1957) taught revolutionary life-drawing classes in a modified engineering room at London South Bank University (then called the Borough Polytechnic) between 1945 - 1953. Bomberg held evening classes that attracted a diverse group of individuals that were drawn to his unconventional teaching style, emphasising learning through practice.
Bomberg’s most dedicated students formed art collectives: first the Borough Group (1946-50/1) and then the Borough Bottega (1953–56) to promote the values they learnt in his classroom and showing their work in a series of group exhibitions.
Bomberg was an influential teacher in the post-Second World War art scene, as his own work and ideas were shifting. The period that he taught at Borough Road was a particularly precarious time, the area was badly damaged by bombing and rationing was prevalent. During his years of teaching at the Borough Polytechnic Bomberg and his students documented the altered environs.
Bomberg insisted on a strong poetic sensibility on his students, attempting to evoke a more harmonious relationship between observation and emotion. Bomberg’s enigmatic contention that painters should seek the ‘spirit in the mass’ was a phrase which followed the Borough Group for years to come. With a sense of artistic ambiguity, what Bomberg was targeting, involved an intense introspection of oneself as well as the dynamic between nature, corporeality and gesture. For Bomberg, the process and artistic integrity was just as important as the finished product.
The exhibition is an exploration of David Bomberg’s time as a teacher at the Borough Polytechnic and the diverse works created by him and his students during this period. The exhibition includes portraits, cityscapes and figure paintings. Artworks from A David Bomberg Legacy - The Sarah Rose Collection including David Bomberg (1890–1957) and a selection of his students from Dorothy Mead (1928-1975), Cliff Holden (1919-2020), Miles Richmond (1922-2008), Dennis Creffield (1931-2018), Leslie Marr (1922-2021) and Edna Mann (1926-1985) make up the exhibition.
On the occasion of reopening the Borough Road Gallery this explores the legacy of David Bomberg’s influential role as a teacher and mentor to subsequent generations of artists.
