The Tortoise and the Hare
An exhibition of works by William Roberts and Jacob Kramer

Ben Uri Gallery - London Jewish Museum of Art: - 
7th July - 7th September 2003

The Ben Uri Gallery - The London Jewish Museum of Art, in conjunction with the 
University Gallery Leeds, is delighted to announce the third exhibition in the series 
‘The Whitechapel Boys’ which focuses on the Jewish artists who were part of the 
early twentieth-century cultural outpouring which emerged from London’s East End.
 
The Tortoise and the Hare: An exhibition of works by William Roberts and Jacob Kramer follows on from the highly successful Bernard Meninsky and Mark Gertler exhibitions previously shown at the Ben Uri in 2001 and 2002.

A joint exhibition of Kramer and Roberts might at first seem an unusual juxtaposition: Roberts, who might be characterised the tortoise, was utterly focussed in both his art and his everyday routine, painting the day he died, in marked contrast to Kramer the hare: artist, philosopher, early Expressionist, bohemian yet deeply spiritual, a socialiser and facilitator – often more for others than for himself. 

Roberts (born in 1895) was a founder member of the Vorticists and an official War artist, and one of the most innovative and original British artists of the 20th century, recording Londoners at work and at play.

Kramer (born in 1892), worked periodically in London until the 1930s, and made a significant contribution to the canon of early English modernism. Ultimately he turned his back on London and the wider art scene, and returned to Leeds where he continued as an active draughtsman and important figure in its cultural life. 

The two artists were linked not just by their time at the Slade but through Sarah, Kramer’s sister and early model, who subsequently married Roberts and became his ‘muse’. Portraits of her by the two artists form one of the threads of the exhibition, which compares and contrasts their styles and preoccupations.

Drawing on work from both public and private collections, the exhibition chronicles the two artists’ visual development and divergence, encompassing classically-inspired works from the Slade period through to their unique and individual responses to abstraction during the 1910s and 1920s. It examines their abiding interest in ‘family’ as subject matter, as well as portraiture in a wider context; Kramer’s search for the spiritual in his art, versus Roberts' dedication to recording daily life in London, and the influence of the First World War. The exhibition also includes illustrative work produced to accompany contemporary literature as well as contributions to a number of avant-garde periodicals.

An illustrated catalogue published by the Ben Uri Gallery accompanies the exhibition.

Curators: Ruth Artmonsky, Rachel Dickson, Pauline Paucker, with thanks to the William Roberts Society.

Admission charge: £4, £3 concession, Ben Uri Friends and NACF members free.
 
Opening times: Mon-Fri 10-5.30, Sun 12-4, Sat closed. 

For more information and images please contact 
Emma House Tel: 020 7604 3991 
email: emma@benuri.org.uk