Horace Brodzky
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Portrait_bust_of_Horace_Brodzky_by_Gaudier-Brzeska%2C_1913_%28Tate_Gallery%29.jpg/220px-Portrait_bust_of_Horace_Brodzky_by_Gaudier-Brzeska%2C_1913_%28Tate_Gallery%29.jpg)
Horace Ascher Brodzky (30 January 1885 – 11 February 1969) was an Australian-born artist and writer most of whose work was created in London and New York. His work included paintings, drawings and linocuts, of which he was an early pioneer. An associate in his early career of many leading artists working in the Britain of his period, including Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Mark Gertler, and members of the Vorticism movement, he ended his life relatively neglected.
Early life
Brodzky was born in 1885, in
Brodzky studied initially at the National Gallery School in Melbourne.[2] In 1904, his father was bankrupted after losing a libel case arising from an attempt to expose alleged corruption, and Horace moved with his family to San Francisco.[2][3]
London
In 1908, Brodzky went to London where he studied during 1911 at the
Brodzky travelled to Italy with the poet John Gould Fletcher, which led to his first London exhibition, "Paintings and Sketches of Italian and Sicilian Scenes" (c. 1911), of which one painting was selected for the 1912 Venice Biennale.,[3] so becoming the first Australian to be exhibited at the Biennale.[1] In 1914, his work was exhibited along with that of other Jewish artists, including Mark Gertler and David Bomberg, in the Whitechapel Gallery. Brodzky became a member of The London Group.[6] During that period he was a pioneer of the technique of linocut, in which medium he has been said to have "excelled". His early oils reveal the influence of both Gertler and Bomberg.[1][3] Among his works of the period are portraits of Jacob Epstein and Jacob Kramer.[1]
New York
In 1915, Brodzky moved to New York, with an introduction to the art patron
Back to England
Returning to London in 1923, he became a professional artist. His work featured in the first-ever exhibition of linocuts, organized by
Brodzky prefers the ordinary 'dip-in' steel nib, for this enables the hand, by varying its pressure on the paper, to broaden the line at will, or rather in obedience to the obscure subconscious or half-conscious promptings which guide the hand to its task. He makes no preliminary studies, draws no pencil outline, carefully rubbed out afterwards to give a false impression of spontaneity. There are no erasures or alterations. Each drawing is made 'au premier coup'. It is made very quickly, as a unity, and when finished the artist cannot remember at what point it was started. The drawing has been thrown on the paper, as it were, with a single gesture.[6]
In 1946, Brodzky published his own study of the French-Romanian-Jewish artist
Final years
In 1963, Brodzky wrote to the collector Ruth Borchard, who had just purchased from him a self-portrait for the sum of 12 guineas (£12.60):
Since 1911 I have been connected with the London art world & have exhibited at all important exhibitions…and have worked for modern art... For a long time I have sold none of my work & have had to rely on selling items by other artists that I have collected ... This letter is not an angry complaint but just the plain facts that I thought you might like to know.[8]
In 1965, 80th anniversary exhibitions were organised for Brodzky at the
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lambirth, Andrew (2004). "Brodzky, Horace Asher (1885–1969), artist and writer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Cannon, Michael (1979). "Horace Ascher Brodzky (1885–1969)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Weindling, Dick (2015). "Horace Brodzky, Kilburn artist". Kilburn and Willesden History. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "Brodzky", Tate Gallery website, accessed 28 September 2015.
- ISBN 0141933402.
- ^ a b "Horace Brodzky", London Arts Group website accessed 2 November 2015.
- ^ a b c "Horace Brodzky". The British Museum. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ "Horace Brodzky". Ruth Borchard Collection. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
External links
- 3 artworks by or after Horace Brodzky at the Art UK site