David Bomberg

A gift from the Artist's Family to the present owner, circa 1980

The following report was prepared by the restorer Hamish Dewar: Structural Condition The artist's board is providing a sound and secure structural support with no evidence of any structural intervention in the past. Paint surface The paint surface has a considerable amount of surface dirt and would undoubtedly be transformed by cleaning. The dirt is quite ingrained but I am confident that the painting would respond very well to cleaning and that there would be a transformation in the overall appearance. No retouchings are visible under ultraviolet light. Summary The painting is therefore in very good and stable condition and with potential to be considerably improved by cleaning and revarnishing. Please telephone the department on 020 7293 5381 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A label attached to the reverse reads: 'Trees near Talgwyn Farm by David Bomberg 1944. Authenticated by Mrs Lilian Bomberg'.

Bomberg's talents as a landscape painter were undoubtedly most consistently inspired by certain locations, and the exceptional quality of the works that were produced in Spain, Palestine and Cyprus have tended to obscure his achievements in painting subjects within the British Isles.

In general he seems to have found the British landscape one which less instantly fired his emotional responses to a specific place and perhaps this accounts in some part for why these subjects have tended to be a little overlooked, but throughout his career he treated the subject with great success and across a number of locations as varied as the blitzed urban landscape of London, the mountains of Scotland and Wales and the coast of Devon and Cornwall.     

This small but vigorous painting was painted in the summer of 1944 when he and his family made a camping expedition to Anglesey and in its swift and assured handling of the paint to create the line of trees and the indigo distance seen through them shows both a remarkable compositional ability and a complete understanding of the medium. As a teacher in the post-war years, it is exactly these qualities that Bomberg's pupils valued so highly, and the present work does seem to be oddly prescient of the landscapes of Primrose Hill that would be painted by his former pupil, Frank Auerbach, over a quarter of a century later.