There is an area of the canvas that is damaged on both the front and reverse and seems to have warped a part of the canvas. The damage is shown in the listing images.
Framed original
Alfred Wolmark’s works have excelled in recent auction results and this is an outstanding demonstration of his technical handling of oil on canvas. Wolmark is known for his work in the early 20th century, associated with the Post-Impressionist movement and often focused on portraiture and scenes of everyday life.
The sitter, Iris Williams, was around sixteen when she sat for this portrait around 1943 or 1944. She lived in Hampstead and went on to marry Norman Sussman but it is not known if her or her family had any special relationship with the artist. Wearing a red dress and large white collar, with dark styled wavy hair, Iris seems to typify the fashions of the time, standing elegantly in front of the abstracted red toned background.
| Medium: | Oil |
| Format: | Canvas |
| Size (Framed): | 34 x 24.5 cm |
| Size (Unframed): | 30 x 20 cm |
| Signed: | Yes |
| Condition: | Localised damage |
| Provenance: | Original sales invoice |
Born in Warsaw, Alfred Wolmark was taken to the East End of London as a child and studied in the Royal Academy Schools. He made his reputation at the Whitechapel Art Exhibition of 1906, where his work was praised by perceptive art critics. In his early period, he painted Whitechapel scenes and Rembrandtesque studies of Jewish subjects, such as rabbis and talmudic students. Later he developed into a brilliant colourist. His use of colour was so bright that in an exhibition of the International Society of Artists no English painter dared hang work next to his. His work was finally placed next to Van Gogh’s.
Wolmark made portraits of many noted literary figures and, in 1925, provided illustrations for an edition of the works of Israel *Zangwill. Wolmark held his first solo exhibition at Bruton Galleries in 1905. He soon began to exhibit on the continent and in America. He taught for some time at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. The works of this highly regarded artist can be seen in many collections, including those of The Tate Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. A retrospective exhibit of Wolmark’s work was held at London’s Ben-Uri Gallery in 2004.
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