Ghetto Theatre , 1920
74.4 x 62 cm (h x w)
Oil on canvas

© David Bomberg estate

In Ghetto Theatre, set in Whitechapel’s lively Pavilion Theatre, where the classics were performed in Yiddish, Bomberg returned to the subject matter and setting of a number of his earlier sketches. Possibly, he hoped to recapture something of his earlier exuberance. In contrast to his animated prewar theatre-goers, however, these drably-dressed spectators with their mask-like faces and closed body language are indicative of his dismal, postwar vision. The hunched male figure (in the upper foreground) leaning wearily on a stick embodies his own personal disenchantment and the compressed space, cleaved by a bold and imposing balcony rail, echoes the claustrophobic tunnels of his wartime sappers. Only the bold sweep of red adds richness to an otherwise sombre palette. Painted on the eve of his departure from the East End, it reveals that for Bomberg, it was no longer a place of excitement and vitality. Yet elsewhere in a series of related Ghetto Theatre sketches, the artist’s looser handling once again liberates his audience from their constraints.

Exhibited by:

Ben Uri Research Unit

More from Ben Uri Research Unit

The Road to la Rochepot , 1952-53
87 x 107 cm (h x w)
Oil
Ben Uri Research Unit
Study for 'In Memory of the Fighters for the Warsaw Ghetto' , 1986
45.7 x 40.7 cm (h x w)
Pen and ink and wash on paper
Ben Uri Research Unit
Street Scene, Ystradgynlais , 1945
42 x 50.9 cm (h x w)
Oil on canvas
Ben Uri Research Unit
Refugees , 1941
47 x 39.5 cm (h x w)
Gouache on Paper
Ben Uri Research Unit
Portrait of Avram Stencl , 1946
62.7 x 45.2 cm (h x w)
Pencil and charcoal on paper
Ben Uri Research Unit