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Introduction
InanarticlepublishedinArtReviewinJanuary1996,RichardInglebyreferred
toBombergasuabrightstarineclipse”,astatementwhichwellreflectsthe
unjustneglecttheartisthadsufferedmostofhislife
1
lHedidnothavearet-
rospectiveexhibitioninanyoftheprestigiousLondongalleriesduringhislife-
timelItwasonlyin1957-ayearaftertheartist’sdeath-thattheTateGallery
inLondondecidedtoholdaretrospectiveofhisworks,whichcame,however,
toolatetocompensateBombergforthedisregardhehadexperiencedl
TheignoranceofthemajorartinstitutionsinBritainwasfurtherdemon-
stratedbyatrulymisguidedpurchasemadebytheTatelDuringBomberg’slife-
timethegallerypurchasedjusttwoofhisminorstudentworkswhichcould
hardlybeconsideredrepresentativeofhisfullartisticabilitylOthermainstream
gallerieswerenotkeenonbuyinghisworkseitherlThehumiliationheexperi-
encedfromtheTatewasatitsmostextremeduringtheexhibitionWyndham
LewisandVorticism,inwhichBomberg,whoneverconsideredhimselfaVorti-
cist,wasrepresentedbythesetwoinsignificantworksinasectioncalleduOth-
erVorticists”lDuringhislifetime,Bombergmountedanumberofshowsinless
prominentvenuesfamousfortheiravant-gardecharacterlButifcriticswere
atallbotheredtowritetheirreviewsoftheseexhibitions,theywererarelysup-
portiveorencouragingofBombergl
DuringtheGreatWar,Bomberghaddifficultiesinacquiringacommission
topaint,butwhenhefinallydid,hiscanvasSappersatWorkfortheCanadi-
anWarMemorialFundwasrejectedlThisforcedtheartisttopaintitagain
inamannerthatwascompletelyalientohisownvisionofthescene,purely
topleasetheofficialslSuchalackofunderstandingwasaharshblowtoanart-
istofhiskind,butsadlyitcontinuedthroughouthislifelDuringtheSecond
WorldWarheonlymanagedtoobtainasmallcommission,followinghundreds
ofrequests,forasinglepainting,fromtheWarArtists’AdvisoryCommittee,
whosupportedmanyartistsoflesserabilitiesl
1Ingleby(1996)l