Alfred Wolmark

Alfred Aaron Wolmark

Wolmark with Henri Gaudier-Brzeska's 'Bust of Wolmark', circa 1913
Born Aaron Wolmark[1]
28 December 1877[2][Note 1]
Warsaw, Poland
Died 6 January 1961 (aged 83)[3]
London, United Kingdom
Nationality British
Spouse(s) Bessie Leah Tapper (m. 1911)[3]
Children 2 sons, 1 daughter[3]

Alfred Aaron[1][4][Note 2] Wolmark (28 December 1877 – 6 January 1961) was a painter and decorative artist. He was a pioneer of the New Movement in Art.

He was born Aaron Wolmark[1] into a Jewish family in Warsaw. The family moved to Devon when he was six.[3] He became a British citizen in 1894.

Education

He studied at the Royal Academy Schools, 1895-8 (1st Silver Medallist for Drawing). There he took the forename Alfred, by which he is known.[1]

Career

Returning briefly to Poland in 1903, he painted works based on Jewish historical subjects. In 1911, under the influence of modern French painting, he executed a series of studies of Breton fisherfolk and harbour life. He worked in the areas of interior decoration, the theatre, and stained glass, 1911-15. He made a stained glass window for St. Mary's Church in Slough in 1915. He painted a series of cityscapes in New York city, 1919-20. He held many exhibitions in London, New York, and Paris, including portrait drawings at the Lefèvre Galleries, 1928. A retrospective of his work was held at Ferens Art Gallery, Kingston upon Hull in 1975.

His paintings are now in many galleries around the world, including the National Portrait Gallery, London, Sheffield and Derby Museum and Art Gallery.[5]

He was one of the prime movers in setting up the Ben Uri Art Society, 1915.

Notes

  1. ↑ The 2004 Ben Uri catalogue suggests doubt regarding his date of birth, possibly in 1876.
  2. ↑ The Times obituary gives "Aaran".

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 James Beechey (December 2004). "Alfred Wolmark: London and Hull". The Burlington Magazine 146 (1221): 835–36. JSTOR 20073795.
  2. ↑ Rachel Dickson; Sarah MacDougall, eds. (2004). Rediscovering Wolmark: a pioneer of British modernism. London: Ben Uri Gallery. ISBN 0-900157-03-8.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Mr. Alfred A. Wolmark". The Times (London, England). 7 January 1961. p. 10.
  4. ↑ P W Risdon (Winter 2005). "Alfred Wolmark in New York 1919–20: Insights from a family archive". The British Art Journal (London, England) VI (3): 72–74. JSTOR 41614649.
  5. ↑ Alfred Wolmark, BBC, accessed August 2011