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GARTH B SCOTT GARTH B SCOTTRonda, 1965 Nave, 1965Charcoal on paperSigned & dated 1965 Charcoal on paper18.5 x 25 in / 47 x 64 cm Signed & dated 1965 24 x 18 in / 61 x 46 cm
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Leslie Marr b.1922Marr was born in Durham and studied under Bomberg at Borough Polytechnic after serving in theRAF during World War II. Many ex-service men attended the classes, including (briefly) Joe Tilson,who also served in the RAF. He exhibited alongside other students from the Borough Polytechnicat the Everyman Cinema Exhibition of 1947, an event encouraged and supported by Marr’s friend,Jim Fairfax Jones who was the cinema’s proprietor. After Holden ceded the presidency of theBorough Group to Bomberg, it was enlarged and Marr began serving as the Group’s first Secretary.From 1948 the Group had a permanent rolling exhibition at Marr's bookshop, The Bookworm inNewport Court, Soho.Marr’s connection with Bomberg was further enhanced through marriage to Dinora Mendelson,Bomberg’s step-daughter. The marriage ended in 1950. Marr also provided Bomberg withsignificant financial support, funding the trip that the artist and his family made to Cyprus. Marraccompanied Bomberg and his family on the successful painting trip to Cornwall in 1948, indeed itis hard to overplay Marr’s support to Bomberg in the elder artists later years. His work ischaracterised by its rich expressionist brushwork and colour palette. Marr is unusual in combininghis artistic practice with a brief but successful career as a Formula 1 racing driver, participatingtwice at the British Grand Prix (1954 and 1955) and winning other events. LESLIE MARR Arran Landscape, 1985-2010 Oil on canvas Signed & dated 1985-2010 28 x 36 in / 71 x 92 cm
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LESLIE MARR LESLIE MARRRonda, 1958 Higher Chuggaton, Devon, 1963Charcoal on paperSigned & dated 1958 Oil on canvas24 x 19 in / 61 x 48.5 cm Signed & dated 1965 29 x 29 in / 74 x 74 cm
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Bomberg’s life classes.Bomberg’s life classes were quite different from any others, and I have plenty with which tocompare them, having continued to do life drawing in many different places for the last 50 years.In Bomberg’s class we really worked hard, no chattering, just work, hoping that we might win themaster’s praise, and if he said ‘We will put that one in our next exhibition’, we were over the moon.When a whole class is concentrating together, an energy is generated, which benefits everybody.Bomberg was not just teaching us, he was, I feel sure, trying to create a ‘school’. This occurred tome one day at the end of a term when we were sorting out our drawings which had been piled upon a cupboard. There were several drawings about which we were uncertain. Who did this one? Inoticed Bomberg with a big smile on his face. He came over to me. ‘Just like the old apprenticesystem’, he said, ‘When the apprentices’ drawings all looked the same.’ This gave me a jolt, but Ithought, well, this is the price one pays for this intensity of teaching. Our drawings were,nevertheless, very free and experimental, and drew a lot of criticism from our more orthodoxcolleagues, who asserted that ‘one had to go through the mill first’. Bomberg, however, who hadbeen through the mill himself, maintained that the academic approach was outmoded and sterile,and an actual barrier to anything truly creative. He impressed on us that we were ‘the new avant-garde’.Leslie MarrJuly 2015
Richard Michelmore 1928-2005Michelmore first encountered Bomberg at the Bartlett School of Architecture where Bomberg wastaking evening classes for drawing. Inspired by these meetings, Michelmore began attendingBomberg’s classes at Borough Polytechnic whilst continuing his architectural studies; he foundBomberg’s teachings on structure and mass very interesting in relation to architecture. He recalledthat ‘To an architecture student (Bomberg’s) refusal to accept perspective was revolutionary initself.....He was always requiring a wider and wider view to stop us fiddling about with detail.’His architectural credits include the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith Public Library and numerousother public and private commissions, but he also continued to exhibit regularly both with theBorough Group (although never a member) and the Bottega (of which he was a founding member).Our drawing by Michelmore comes from the life study classes under Bomberg’s supervision andmay well have additions by Bomberg who regularly corrected his students’ works during thedrawing process. A painting by Michelmore in the collection of Tate Britain clearly showsBomberg’s additions to the head and foreground by his tutor. According to Dinora Mendelson,Michelmore was particularly highly regarded by Bomberg amongst his students. RICHARD MICHELMORE Standing figure, c.1948 Charcoal on paper Signed 30 x 22 in / 76 x 56 cm
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Philip Holmes 1924-2007After distinguished service in the RAF during World War II, Holmes attended St Martin’s School ofArt in London from 1948 where he met Leon Kossoff and Frank Auerbach. Soon afterwards, the selfstyled ‘Gang of three’ then began attending Bomberg’s classes at Borough Polytechnic. Of thethree, it was Holmes who developed the closest links to Bomberg and his teaching, eventuallybecoming a member of the Borough Bottega after its formation in 1953.Holmes moved to Spain in 1954 and lived for a short while with Bomberg and Lilian at Casa de laVirgen before moving to the Pensión Progresso in Ronda. On his return to London he set up astudio in Kensington, before relocating his family to a new studio and home in Islington in the mid1960’s. He remained at this studio for the rest of his life. Solo exhibitions of his work in Londonduring the 1950’s were held at the RBA Galleries, The ICA Gallery, the Studio Gallery and BeauxArts Gallery. PHILIP HOLMES Peñon de Mures (Mures Rock), c.1960 Oil on canvas 25 x 30 in / 64 x 76 cm
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FRANK AUERBACH PHILIP HOLMESPortrait of Philip Holmes, 1953 Ronda, c.1960Oil on canvas22 x 16 in / 60 x 40.5 cm Charcoal on paper 29 x 22 in / 74 x 56 cm© Frank Auerbach, image courtesy of Marlborough Fine ArtPlease note: This painting is for catalogue reproduction only and will not be exhibited.
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