Alfred Aaron Wolmark

Born in Warsaw, Alfred Wolmark and his family immigrated to England in 1883. He grew up in the East End of London, and its Jewish life was the subject of his earlier work, painted in a realist manner. He entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1895, and exhibited with the Royal Academy between 1901 and 1936, as well as the Allied Artists' Association (1908-16) and the International Society (1911-1925). His first one-man exhibition was held at the Bruton Galleries in 1905. Wolmark's work underwent a dramatic change around 1910, influenced by the first exhibition of Post-Impressionist pictures in London, and by a visit to Concarneau in Brittany.

He kept to traditional genre, and transformed his subjects through the use of flattened forms, built up with a heavy impasto. His daring use of bright colour earned him the title of 'The Colour King', and was combined with his decorative skills in the design of pottery and stained glass, as well as theatre designs, including two for Diaghilev ballets. One of the Founders of the Ben Uri Art Society, Wolmark's memorial exhibition was held at the Ben Uri Gallery in 1961.