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Lot Essay
It was Bomberg's sister Kitty who lent him the money for the first painting trip to Spain in September 1929, later recalling that 'he didn't feel there was as much in England to give him inspiration as there was abroad'. Bomberg had been inspired by the Spanish landscapes of his friend Muirhead Bone and his admiration for El Greco led to a desire to see the city that had inspired a great genius.
On arriving in Toledo he set himself up in an empty house with a platform roof providing a perfect vantage point from which to view the unspoilt city. His ability to paint on the spot had been honed by his experiences in Jerusalem and a series of over twenty dramatic and memorable canvases were produced in the space of a few months. Here he discovered his own personal vision, although at the time he admitted 'I do not yet know whether I am doing any good ... I am quite sure of one thing and that is I do not want to repeat the Palestine style. And as long as I can find a broader manner of treating the infinite amount of detail I am contented'.
Commenting on the Toledo series, Richard Cork (loc. cit.) writes: 'Some of Bomberg's most exhilarating Toledo pictures were executed on a modest scale, with great speed and concentration, on the outskirts of the city ... Perhaps Bomberg was at his most voracious when he painted some small views of San Miguel, with the convent and tower leading to a range of hills beyond [as in the present work]. Seen from above, like so many of his Toledo paintings, these canvases appear to have been completed in an especially exalted mood. The pigment is loaded onto the picture-surface with a raptuous abandon which could have become self-indulgent without the discipline Bomberg commanded. The brushmarks are swift, decisive and never flaccid. They have the crisp authority of a fresh response to the thing seen, and at the same time celebrate the soaring of Bomberg's spirit as he projects his own exuberant emotions onto the landscape'.
The present work was purchased by the wealthy Bradford wool-merchant, Arthur Crossland, most probably in 1934 when the dealer Alfred Willey introduced him to Bomberg's paintings from the Palestine and Toledo period. Crossland then went on to contribute 25 towards Bomberg's visit to Ronda in 1935. This work remained in his collection until the sale of his estate at Christie's in 1956, when it was purchased by the present owner, a former pupil of the artist.
On arriving in Toledo he set himself up in an empty house with a platform roof providing a perfect vantage point from which to view the unspoilt city. His ability to paint on the spot had been honed by his experiences in Jerusalem and a series of over twenty dramatic and memorable canvases were produced in the space of a few months. Here he discovered his own personal vision, although at the time he admitted 'I do not yet know whether I am doing any good ... I am quite sure of one thing and that is I do not want to repeat the Palestine style. And as long as I can find a broader manner of treating the infinite amount of detail I am contented'.
Commenting on the Toledo series, Richard Cork (loc. cit.) writes: 'Some of Bomberg's most exhilarating Toledo pictures were executed on a modest scale, with great speed and concentration, on the outskirts of the city ... Perhaps Bomberg was at his most voracious when he painted some small views of San Miguel, with the convent and tower leading to a range of hills beyond [as in the present work]. Seen from above, like so many of his Toledo paintings, these canvases appear to have been completed in an especially exalted mood. The pigment is loaded onto the picture-surface with a raptuous abandon which could have become self-indulgent without the discipline Bomberg commanded. The brushmarks are swift, decisive and never flaccid. They have the crisp authority of a fresh response to the thing seen, and at the same time celebrate the soaring of Bomberg's spirit as he projects his own exuberant emotions onto the landscape'.
The present work was purchased by the wealthy Bradford wool-merchant, Arthur Crossland, most probably in 1934 when the dealer Alfred Willey introduced him to Bomberg's paintings from the Palestine and Toledo period. Crossland then went on to contribute 25 towards Bomberg's visit to Ronda in 1935. This work remained in his collection until the sale of his estate at Christie's in 1956, when it was purchased by the present owner, a former pupil of the artist.