David Bomberg (1890-1957)
Portrait of Austen St. Barbe Harrison (1891-1976)
Oil on canvas, signed and dated '31' in the upper left corner, 610 x 505 mm (24 x 20 in), some craquelure (framed)

Provenance:
Lilian Thirza Charlotte Bomberg née Holt;
Gifted to Austen St. Barbe Harrison [manuscript letter from Lilian to Harrison included, dated '63]
Sale, [?]Christie's, London, 13th June 1986, lot 271;
The Phoenix Galleries, Suffolk;
Private collection, Bristol

Exhibited:
Waterhouse & Dodd, London (possibly 'David Bomberg' November 2013) [label affixed to reverse of frame]

Literature:
cf. Cork (Richard), David Bomberg, 1987, p. 152

⁂ An intimate portrait of the artist's "close friend", whom he met during his time in Jerusalem. Austen St. Barbe Harrison, a British-born architect who spent most of his career in the Middle East, met Bomberg while he was a Government appointed architect working in Jerusalem. Harrison lived above the artist, where he was living with his wife, Lillian. Cork writes 'Harrison soon became a close friend [...] and the Bombergs would go to supper at [Harrison's] house and spend the evening in uninhibited conversation' [op cit.]. A manuscript letter from Lillian to Harrison is included in the present lot, which highlights both the close relationship between Harrison and Bomberg, as well as Harrison's friendship with Lillian.