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==The Slade School and after==
==The Slade School and after==
[[File:Meninsky-Two-Women-and-a-Ch.jpg|thumb|left|Black and white reproduction of 'Two Women and a Child' 1913 ]]It was probably through the Jewish Educational Aid Society that Meninsky was able to study at the [[Slade School of Fine Art]] in 1912.<ref>William Roberts, 'Early Years' written September 1977, pamphlet published in 1982: 'About 1912 there was an influx of Jewish students at the Slade, sponsored by the Jewish Aid Society. Mark Gertler had been the forerunner of this group, that included Meninsky, Rosenberg ... Kramer and Goldstein' William Roberts, 'Early Years' written September 1977, pamphlet published in 1982</ref> He followed in the wake of a particularly lively and talented cohort that had included [[Stanley Spencer]], [[Mark Gertler]], [[Dora Carrington]] , [[Paul Nash]] and [[Christopher R. W. Nevinson]]. Meninsky's contemporaries included [[David Bomberg]] , [[Isaac Rosenberg]] and [[Jacob Kramer]] who shared a similar Anglo-Jewish background to himself. Another Slade contemporary [[William Roberts (painter)|William Roberts]] would become a life long friend and later a colleague at the [[Central School of Arts and Crafts]]. In the autumn of that year [[Roger Fry]]'s Second Post-Impressionist Exhibition opened at the Grafton Galleries, London and was seen by the public as scandalous in its modernism. Meninsky's tutors at the Slade, [[Henry Tonks]] and [[Wilson Steer]], also rejected the cubist work on display at the Grafton.<ref> Anna Gruetzner Robins 'Modern Art in Britain 1910-1914 London: 1997, pgs 64-107</ref> Whilst Bomberg and Roberts would go on to explore their own brand of 'English Cubism' in their immediate post-Slade years, Meninsky 'had been bowled over most completely by the greatness of [[Cezanne]]'<ref>John Russell Taylor, 1990, p.57</ref> and would later come to venerate the work of [[Picasso]] and [[Matisse]].
[[File:Meninsky-Two-Women-and-a-Ch.jpg|thumb|left|Black and white reproduction of 'Two Women and a Child' 1913 ]]It was probably through the Jewish Educational Aid Society that Meninsky was able to study at the [[Slade School of Fine Art]] in 1912.<ref>William Roberts, 'Early Years' written September 1977, pamphlet published in 1982: 'About 1912 there was an influx of Jewish students at the Slade, sponsored by the Jewish Aid Society. Mark Gertler had been the forerunner of this group, that included Meninsky, Rosenberg ... Kramer and Goldstein' William Roberts, 'Early Years' written September 1977, pamphlet published in 1982</ref> He followed in the wake of a particularly lively and talented cohort that had included [[Stanley Spencer]], [[Mark Gertler]], [[Dora Carrington]] , [[Paul Nash]] and [[Christopher R. W. Nevinson]]. Meninsky's contemporaries included [[David Bomberg]] , [[Isaac Rosenberg]] and [[Jacob Kramer]] who shared a similar Anglo-Jewish background to himself. Another Slade contemporary [[William Roberts (painter)|William Roberts]] would become a life long friend and later a colleague at the [[Central School of Arts and Crafts]]. From an older generation [[Walter Sickert]] was still a vital force for Slade students and Slade alumni holding 'at homes' from 19 Fitzroy Street - a few minutes from the Slade in Gower Street - where he 'gathered young artists and students at his parties, encouraging their work, treating them as professionals, confounded their awed admiration through his own mischievous eccentricities and discouraging their transgressions.'<ref>Matthew Sturges 'Walter Sickert - a Life', Harper Perennial, london, 2005, p.481</ref>
In the autumn of that year [[Roger Fry]]'s Second Post-Impressionist Exhibition opened at the Grafton Galleries, London and was seen by the public as scandalous in its modernism. Meninsky's tutors at the Slade, [[Henry Tonks]] and [[Wilson Steer]], also rejected the cubist work on display at the Grafton.<ref> Anna Gruetzner Robins 'Modern Art in Britain 1910-1914 London: 1997, pgs 64-107</ref> Whilst Bomberg and Roberts would go on to explore their own brand of 'English Cubism' in their immediate post-Slade years, Meninsky 'had been bowled over most completely by the greatness of [[Cezanne]]'<ref>John Russell Taylor, 1990, p.57</ref> and would later come to venerate the work of [[Picasso]] and [[Matisse]].




Revision as of 13:47, 24 September 2022

Bernard Meninsky
April 1926
Born
Bernard Menushkin

(1891-07-28)28 July 1891
Konotop, Tchernigov, Ukraine
Died12 February 1950(1950-02-12) (aged 58)
Education
Known forPainting

Bernard Meninsky (25 July 1891 – 12 February 1950) was a figurative artist, painter of figures and landscape in oils, watercolour and gouache, draughtsman and teacher.[1]

Early life and education

Meninsky was born into a working class Jewish family in Konotop, Ukraine, in 1891. His father was a tailor by trade and the family were Yiddish speaking Russians. They moved to Liverpool when Bernard was six weeks old. The family name was apparently 'Menushkin'[2] but at some point they changed their name to 'Meninsky'[3]

Although he left school at the age of eleven he had established a passion for reading and his talent for art led to the sale of a comic postcard design to Appelbaums.[4] Whilst working as an errand boy during the day, he attended free classes in art in the evenings and this enabled him to build a portfolio that gained him a place at the Liverpool School of Art. He attended there from 1906-1911, being financed by a succession of scholarships. Further scholarships allowed him to attend summer courses at the Royal College of Art London in August 1909 and August 1910 and in 1911 he won a travel scholarship to study in Paris at the Académie Julian for the three summer months.[5] Whilst this not an entirely happy experience,[6] it was certainly 'eye-opening' for the young artist and gave him an opportunity to familiarise himself with the masterpieces in the Louvre and to take in current modern art practices.

The Slade School and after

Black and white reproduction of 'Two Women and a Child' 1913

It was probably through the Jewish Educational Aid Society that Meninsky was able to study at the Slade School of Fine Art in 1912.[7] He followed in the wake of a particularly lively and talented cohort that had included Stanley Spencer, Mark Gertler, Dora Carrington , Paul Nash and Christopher R. W. Nevinson. Meninsky's contemporaries included David Bomberg , Isaac Rosenberg and Jacob Kramer who shared a similar Anglo-Jewish background to himself. Another Slade contemporary William Roberts would become a life long friend and later a colleague at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. From an older generation Walter Sickert was still a vital force for Slade students and Slade alumni holding 'at homes' from 19 Fitzroy Street - a few minutes from the Slade in Gower Street - where he 'gathered young artists and students at his parties, encouraging their work, treating them as professionals, confounded their awed admiration through his own mischievous eccentricities and discouraging their transgressions.'[8]

In the autumn of that year Roger Fry's Second Post-Impressionist Exhibition opened at the Grafton Galleries, London and was seen by the public as scandalous in its modernism. Meninsky's tutors at the Slade, Henry Tonks and Wilson Steer, also rejected the cubist work on display at the Grafton.[9] Whilst Bomberg and Roberts would go on to explore their own brand of 'English Cubism' in their immediate post-Slade years, Meninsky 'had been bowled over most completely by the greatness of Cezanne'[10] and would later come to venerate the work of Picasso and Matisse.


In 1913 he worked as a 'pupil teacher' for the highly regarded Edward Gordon Craig at his newly established theatre school in Florence. Craig was notoriously difficult to work for and Meninsky returned to London a few months later.[11] He began teaching life drawing at the Central School of Arts and Crafts.[12] Teaching would be a passion of Meninsky's and his relationship with the Central School would be important to him throughout his life.[13]A pencil and wash drawing Two women and a child from this time seems very much in keeping with the British Arts and Crafts spirit associated with the Central School's early years.[14]

The war years

The Arrival (1918) (Art.IWM ART 1186)

In the summer of 1914 Menisky's work was exhibited in the 'Jewish Section' of 'Twentieth-Century Art - a review of Modern Movements' at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London's East-end. This section was curated by David Bomberg who elsewhere in the exhibition - along with Wyndham Lewis and his Rebel Art Centre group - were exhibiting quite abstract and challengingly modern work.[15]

In 10 January 1918, Meninsky was called up to serve as a private in the Royal Fusiliers (38/40 depot). For five months he worked in a clerical capacity, then following a nervous breakdown he was declared 'medically unfit' and was discharged in August 1918.[16]

The Ministry of Information commissioned Meninsky in May 1918 to produce a series of paintings based around the 'arrival of a Leave Train from the Front' at a London railway terminus.[17] He was naturalised as a British Citizen in 1918.

Later life

Meninsky held his first solo show at the Goupil Gallery in 1919 along with The London Group and the New English Art Club (NEAC). In 1920 he was appointed as a tutor of life drawing at the Westminster School of Art, where he was renowned as a superb figure draughtsman. In this period he was also associated with the bohemian Bloomsbury Group and the Garman sisters. He published Mother and Child: 28 Drawings in 1928 and illustrated the 1946 volume of Milton's poems L'Allegro and Il Penseroso. In 1935 he designed sets for the ballet 'David' for the Markova–Dolin Company. In 1940 he moved to Oxford City School of Art, and returned to the Central School in 1945.

In February 1949 he was featured on the cover of the first ever issue of ArtReview, then titled Art News and Review. The profile noted "Using a palette which owes something to the Fauves, and through them to the Expressionists, he has created a world of classical dignity and plastic form."

Meninsky suffered from mental illness for much of his life and committed suicide in 1950.[18]

A Meninsky memorial exhibition was organised by the Arts Council in 1951–52, and a retrospective show was staged at the Adams Gallery in 1958. His works are on show at the Arts Council, British Museum, Imperial War Museum, National Gallery of Ireland, Tate Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, and galleries in Hull, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ Special Collections, The University Library. "Bernard Meninsky". Leeds University. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  2. ^ John Russell Taylor 'Bernard Meninsky, Redcliffe Press 1990, pages 9-10
  3. ^ The National Archives (UK) notes that '...many Jewish immigrants who came to the UK anglicised their surnames or simply changed them' ref: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/jews-and-jewish-communities-18th-20th-centuries. In the UK census for 1901 and 1911 the family members are clearly called Meninsky and this is the name that Bernard's parents, Isaac and Annie used when applying for UK citizenship in June 1915 ref: Naturalisation Certificates and Declarations, 1870-1916 Ancestry.com. In the 1901 census Bernard is shortened to 'Barney' and he is listed as being born in Liverpool. In the 1911 census, Bernard completes the census form on behalf of the family and puts his nationality as 'Russian'. This is consistent with his need to apply for UK nationalisation in 1918. His younger sisters are listed as being born in Liverpool.
  4. ^ His design sold for £2.00. Reference: John Russell Taylor, 1990, pages 10
  5. ^ John Russell Taylor, 1990, pages 16
  6. ^ 'He later recalled crying with misery in Paris because he missed his family so much' : John Russell Taylor, 1990, p.16
  7. ^ William Roberts, 'Early Years' written September 1977, pamphlet published in 1982: 'About 1912 there was an influx of Jewish students at the Slade, sponsored by the Jewish Aid Society. Mark Gertler had been the forerunner of this group, that included Meninsky, Rosenberg ... Kramer and Goldstein' William Roberts, 'Early Years' written September 1977, pamphlet published in 1982
  8. ^ Matthew Sturges 'Walter Sickert - a Life', Harper Perennial, london, 2005, p.481
  9. ^ Anna Gruetzner Robins 'Modern Art in Britain 1910-1914 London: 1997, pgs 64-107
  10. ^ John Russell Taylor, 1990, p.57
  11. ^ John Russsell Taylor, 1990. Page 31
  12. ^ In 1913 the principal of the Central School was F.V.Burridge (ref: Backemeyer et al.'Object Lessons: Central Saint Martins Art and Design Archive'. Lund Humphries, London, 1996). Burridge had previously been head of the Liverpool School of Art, when Meninsky had been a prize winning student there.
  13. ^ John Russell Taylor, 1990, p.33
  14. ^ Presented to the Ben Uri Collection in 1948 by Mary Cohen ref. 'Jewish Artists The Ben Uri collection' edited by Walter Schwab and Julia Weiner, Lund Humphries, 1994. Pages 78-79
  15. ^ Anna Gruetzner Robins 'Modern Art in Britain 1910-1914', Merrell Holberton, London 1982 Pages 139-144
  16. ^ Ancestry.co.uk 'UK, British Army World War I Pension Records 1914-1920’. n.b. John Russell Taylor in 'Bernard Meninsky',1990, page 35 claims that Meninsky signed up in 1914 till mid 1918. It is not clear what source he is using for this assertion, however the British Army World War 1 Pensions Records are unambigious with regards to the dates of his service and the fact that he was based in Britain and didn't see active service abroad. The medical diagnosis was 'neurasthenia' and the medical officer reviewing his case was sympathetic to his fits of depression and fear of open spaces which was attributed to a congential condition -'his mother suffers from same'. Meninsky was awarded a 20% pension for 6 months following discharge
  17. ^ Art from the First World War. Imperial War Museum. 2008. ISBN 978-1-904897-98-9.
  18. ^ "Meninsky;Bernard; (1891–1950)". Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2007. Central Saint Martins.
  19. ^ 75 artworks by or after Bernard Meninsky at the Art UK site. Retrieved 2 December 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bernard Meninsky.
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