MASTERPIECES FROM THE BEN URI COLLECTION
MARK GERTLER (1891-1939)
THE COSTER WOMAN 1923 Oil
Signed (lower right) 'M Gertler 23'
MARK GERTLER
Mark Gertler’s The Coster Woman exemplifies his early 1920s exploration of portraiture rooted in both psychological insight and stylistic clarity. The sitter, monumental in scale and set against a serene, park-like landscape, is imbued with dignity and poise, defying the popular caricatures of working-class women in contemporary visual culture Her broad features, strong jawline, and confident bearing suggest a resilience shaped by experience, while her elaborate feathered hat, beaded necklace, and richly patterned shawl evoke both elegance and assertiveness Painted with a refined naturalism that recalls the Italian Renaissance and early Netherlandish portraiture particularly in its cool luminosity and compositional restraint Gertler’s approach balances classical control with modern sensibility. The work's stillness is punctuated by subtle asymmetries, such as the tilt of the hat’s dramatic plume or the single earring, imbuing the image with latent movement and individuality Gertler's interest in elevating everyday subjects especially drawn from the immigrant and working-class communities of London's East End aligns with his broader artistic and cultural mission as a Jewish artist navigating modern British society The Coster Woman stands as a powerful testament to his ability to dignify the ordinary, transforming a seemingly simple figure into an icon of strength and complexity within the evolving language of British modernism.
Mark Gertler was born the fifth and youngest child of Austrian-Jewish immigrant parents in Spitalfields, London, England on 9 December 1891 During a period of economic downturn, the family was repatriated to Przemyśl , Galicia, then in the Austro-Hungarian empire (now Southern Poland), the following year After his father's departure to seek work in America, the family lived on the brink of starvation until eventually they were reunited in London in 1896 Following a brief apprenticeship at Clayton and Bell stained-glass makers, and evening classes at the Regent School Polytechnic, Gertler entered the Slade School of Fine Art in 1908, with a loan from the Jewish Education Aid Society; twice winning the Slade scholarship and leaving with another from the British Institution in 1911 He began exhibiting while still a student with Vanessa Bell's Friday Club in 1910, had a joint show with John Currie at the Chenil Galleries, Chelsea in 1912, and began showing with the New English Art Club the same year. In 1914 his work was included in the so-called 'Jewish Section', co-curated by Bomberg and Jacob Epstein at the exhibition ‘Twentieth Century Art: A Review of Modern Movements at the Whitechapel Art Gallery He was turned down for military service during the First World War, firstly on the grounds of his 'Austrian' parentage, then later, after being called up in 1918 was excused active service on the grounds of ill health and not forced to publicly declare his pacifist convictions, which were instead expressed in his anti-war painting Merry-Go-Round (1916, Tate) Although offered a commission as a war artist, after an attack of depression, he left it unfulfilled.
Gertler was a leading member of the London Group from 1915 onwards, exhibited with Roger Fry’s Omega Workshop in 1917 and 1918 and participated regularly in the Goupil Salons (1915-37) He had five solo shows at the Goupil Gallery, London (1921, 1922, 1923, 1924 and 1926), but tuberculosis, first diagnosed in 1920, seriously undermined his health, frequently confining him to sanatoria: from November 1920 until May 1921, and then again, in 1925, 1929 and 1936 His work was included in group shows at the Ben Uri Gallery in 1934 and 1937 and he had six further solo shows in his final decade: at the Leicester Galleries, London (1928, 1930, 1932 and 1934) and at the Lefevre Galleries, London in 1937 and 1939; from 1934, until its closure on the eve of the Second World War, he also taught part-time at the Westminster School of Art Suffering from ill health and depression, Gertler committed suicide on 23 June 1939 Memorial exhibitions were held at the Leicester Galleries in 1941, Ben Uri Gallery in 1944 and Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1949 Posthumous solo exhibitions have been held at The Minories, Colchester, and tour (1971), Camden Arts Centre (1992), and Ben Uri Gallery, London (1982, 2002 and 2019), with a further show at Piano Nobile Gallery (2012) and a Tate room display in 2018 His work is held in more than 40 UK collections including the Ben Uri Collection, the British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Southampton City Art Gallery, the Tate and the V&A.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
COLLECTION: https://benuri.org/collections/
BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/
