MASTERPIECES FROM THE BEN URI COLLECTION
SELF-PORTRAIT IN STEEL HELMET
1916
Black chalk, gouache and wash on paper
ISAAC ROSENBERG (1890-1918)
ISAAC ROSENBERG
Isaac Rosenberg’s Self-Portrait in Steel Helmet (1916) stands as a deeply personal and affecting image, executed in graphite and gouache on brown paper Created while Rosenberg was serving as a private on the Western Front during the First World War, the portrait captures the weary, introspective gaze of a soldier-
poet confronting the brutality and anonymity of war Wearing the iconic British Brodie helmet, Rosenberg eschews overt heroism in favour of a haunting self-representation marked by psychological vulnerability and stoic resignation His lips are slightly parted, his eyes distant and reflective, embodying the dual consciousness of soldier and artist The work demonstrates Rosenberg’s Slade School training evident in the economy of line and formal restraint while the rawness of the paper and sparse application of colour speak to the immediacy and scarcity of materials available in wartime. This portrait is not only a rare visual testimony of Rosenberg’s inner life at the front but also a unique artifact within the canon of war art, offering a counterpoint to the grander narratives of patriotic sacrifice Self-Portrait in Steel Helmet belongs to a broader body of Rosenberg’s creative output that fuses visual art with poetic expression, affirming his place as one of the most original and tragic voices of the First World War generation
Isaac Rosenberg was born into a Jewish immigrant family in Bristol, England on 25 November 1890 and raised in great poverty in Whitechapel Despite an early talent for drawing and writing, by the age of fourteen he was unhappily apprenticed to a firm of Fleet Street engravers He took evening art classes at Bir-
beck College, London where he won many prizes, before following Mark Gertler and David Bomberg to the Slade School of Fine Art (1911–14) Often unable to afford models, his oeuvre includes many self-portraits as well as landscapes and works on literary themes. In 1914 his work was included in the so-called 'Jewish Section' co-curated by Bomberg and Jacob Epstein as part of 'Twentieth-Century Art: A Review of Modern Movements' at the Whitechapel Art Gallery. Afterwards Rosenberg visited his sister in South Africa where he painted, wrote and lectured about art, before returning to England in 1915 After enlisting in the army inOctober 1915, he was sent to the Front in 1916, from where he sent home his poignant Self-portrait in Steel Helmet (1916) He was killed, aged 27, while on patrol in Fampoux, France on 1 April 1918 Despite publishing only two short collections of poetry during his lifetime, Rosenberg is now regarded as one of the finest War Poets of his generation The exhibition, Whitechapel at War: Isaac Rosenberg and his Circle' (Ben Uri, 2008), was the first to examine his art in the context of his Whitechapel peers. Rosenberg's work is in UK collections including the Ben Uri Collection, the Imperial War Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate, and UCL
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
COLLECTION: https://benuri.org/collections/
BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/
