Listing Details
William Michael Rothenstein(1908 - 1993)
Michael Rothenstein was a British printmaker, painter, and art teacher. He was born in Hampstead, London, on 19 March 1908, the youngest of four children to the celebrated artist Sir William Rothenstein and his wife Alice Knewstub.
He was home-schooled and studied art at Chelsea Polytechnic and later at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. Affected by lingering depression, Rothenstein did little art making during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Despite this, he had his first one-man show at the Warren Gallery, London, in 1931.
During the late 1930s, the artist's output was mainly Neo-Romantic landscapes. In 1940, he was commissioned to paint topographical watercolours of endangered sites in Sussex for the Recording Britain organised by the Pilgrim Trust. In the early 1940s, he moved to Ethel House, in the north Essex village of Great Bardfield. The artist held his first (of many) one-man shows at the famous Redfern Gallery, London, in 1942. During this time, he became increasingly fascinated by printmaking.
At Great Bardfield, there was a small resident art community that included John Aldridge, Edward Bawden and Kenneth Rowntree. In the early 1950s, several more artists (including George Chapman, Stanley Clifford-Smith, Audrey Cruddas and Marianne Straub) moved to the village, making it one of Britain's most artistically creative spots.
Rothenstein was important in organising the Great Bardfield Artists exhibitions during the 1950s. Thanks to his contacts in the art world (his older brother, Sir John Rothenstein, was the current head of the Tate Gallery), these exhibitions became nationally known and attracted thousands of visitors.
From the mid-1950s, Rothenstein almost abandoned painting in preference to printmaking, which included linocuts and etchings. Like his fellow Bardfield artists, his work was figurative but became near-abstract in the 1960s.
Edition: 73/350
Image Dimensions: 780mm W x 575mm H
Framing: Unframed
