119

Alfred A. Wolmark

1877-1961

Alfred A. Wolmark's / Pictures. Circa 1920.

Condition A-: minor abrasions at edges; minor creases at edges and in image; linen trimmed to edges.

Wolmark was born into a Jewish family in Warsaw that moved to England in the 1880s, where he studied art, and became known for his Fauvist and Post-Impressionist colors and thick paint application. In 1920, artist Joseph Leftwich discussed Wolmark's exhibition at Hampstead art gallery. Leftwich details Wolmark's transformation from painting traditional "Jewish style pictures" to being influenced by Velasquez's art in Spain, to becoming "intoxicated" by French Post-impressionist sensibilities - "he became sick with sun fever. He became pagan. He began to paint sunny fields and dancing girls. He became drunk from light and joy. His pictures became burning colour-harmonies." Leftwich continued on the subject of this exhibition at Hampstead Art Gallery, "Above all Wolmark's chief worth is as a poster artist. He is a colourist-decorator, he creates colour-combinations. . . His pictures in this exhibition belong to this type, and still they show signs of a change. Wolmark is still growing, his great work still needs to be created . . . It seems to me that Wolmark uses his strong colours because he has such an agitated, revolutionary temperament. He revolts against the grey English tones, and he extracts brighter colours from his imagination" (https://benuri.org/). Though only a small handful of posters by this pioneer of British Modernism have come to light, this one certainly illustrates how Wolmark transferred his flair for color and aptitude for line-work into the poster medium.

Rare. We have not found a copy at auction since 1990.
28¼x19¼ inches, 71¾x49 cm. David Allen & Sons, London.

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February 26, 2026 12:00 PM EST
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