Bomb Store by David Bomberg 1942

Acquisition of The Bomb Store by David Bomberg, 1942. Bomberg (1890-1957) was a Londoner of Polish immigrant parents, and one of the major exponents of the modern art movement in Britain in the first half of the 20th century. In 1942 he was commissioned to paint a bomb store subject by the War Artists Advisory Committee and was subsequently send to draw 'interior objects in an underground store' at a depot near Burton-on-Trent in the galleries of a disused mine. Bomberg's relations with the committee were acrimonious and although he produced a large body of work on the bomb store theme, the committee acquired only 3 drawings, one of which is in the Imperial War Museum. This oil on canvas is a rare and early work in the Bomb Store series, as the artist's small supply of canvases soon ran out and the vast majority of work was done in oil on paper. Painting, oil on canvas, 59.6x75cm. An underground bomb store showing bomb-racks and a cave-like interior. The scene is painted using bold, abstract brushstrokes, in earthy tones of brown, yellow, green and grey.