NEN Gallery

Bernard Meninksy, Two Women and a Child, 1913
Pencil and wash

Meninsky was born, Bernard Menushkin, in 1891, n Karotopin, in the Ukraine. His family brought him to England when he was only six weeks old and settled in Liverpool. He was given a grant to study art in Paris and won a scholarship to the Slade in 1912. However, he soon left to teach drawing in Italy.

During the First World War, Meninsky joined the Royal Fusiliers and fought in Palestine. In 1918 he was recruited as an official war artist, but was discharged from service after suffering a nervous breakdown.

In 1919, he held his first solo show and became part of the London Group. He devoted much of his time teaching drawing at two London art schools, but meanwhile painted portraits, figures and landscapes. In the 1920s and ‘30s, his landscapes became dark and atmospheric. In 1935, he illustrated a volume of Milton’s poems. Although he exhibited and published his work, he suffered several mental breakdowns. Eventually, in 1950 at the age of 58, he took his own life.

Examples of works by Bernard Meninsky in the Ben Uri collection
Portrait of a Girl
Signed
Watercolour
48.5 x 43.5 cm

Bathers in a Landscape
Lithograph
65 x 51 cm

Examples of works by Bernard Meninsky in other collections
Tate Collection
Portrait of a Boy, 1923
Oil on canvas
support: 91.4 x 71.1 cm
painting
Presented anonymously through The Art Fund 1925

Tate Collection
Head of a Girl, 1944
Pencil on paper
support: 54.6 x 45.1 cm
on paper, unique
Presented by the artist's widow 1958

Examples of other works by Bernard Meninsky can be found at Tate on line at:
http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ArtistWorks?cgroupid=999999961&artistid;=1622&page;=1