Isaac Rosenberg

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Rosenberg, Isaac (1890–1918). British painter and poet. He was born in Bristol of Jewish immigrant parents from Lithuania and was brought up in the East End of London. In 1904 he began an apprenticeship as an engraver and started attending evening classes in art. He also frequented the Whitechapel Art Gallery, where he became friendly with Bomberg and Gertler. In 1911 the patronage of three wealthy Jewish women enabled Rosenberg to go to the Slade School, where he studied until 1914. He then went to South Africa for a year to visit his sister and try to improve his delicate health (he had weak lungs); whilst there he lectured on modern art and published a few articles. In 1915 he enlisted in the 12th Suffolks—a bantam regiment for men under regulation height—and he was killed in action on the Somme. The anti-Semitism that he encountered in the army made him conscious of his Jewishness, which had previously not been particularly important to him, and it affected his writing (he wrote a play called Moses, for example). Many of his finest poems were written in the trenches, where it was difficult for him even to get writing materials.

Rosenberg made little impact in his lifetime; he had three modest collections of his writing published at his own expense, but otherwise only two of his poems appeared in print, and his paintings were shown in public only three times—at the New English Art Club in 1912 and 1914 and in the exhibition ‘Twentieth Century Art—A Review of Modern Movements', organized by Bomberg at the Whitechapel in 1914. In 1922 a collection of his poetry was published, but although his work was admired by many other poets, his reputation grew only slowly. It was many years before he was generally mentioned in the same breath as other notable war poets such as Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen (who were inherently more conspicuous because they were officers). In the 1970s, however, there was a strong growth of interest in Rosenberg, who was the subject of several books and exhibitions. As a painter he did some landscapes and allegorical scenes, but the bulk of his work consists of portraits (before the war he had hoped to earn his living from them). There are several self-portraits (the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate Gallery, London, each has an example) and these convey particularly well the nervous sensitivity of his style and seriousness of attitude: ‘Art is not a plaything,’ he wrote, ‘it is blood and tears.’

Rosenberg, Isaac (b Bristol, 25 Nov. 1890; d nr. Arras, 1 Apr. 1918). British painter and poet, born into a family of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. He trained as an engraver and also studied at the Slade School. In 1915 he enlisted in the army and was killed in action on the Somme. He made little impact in his lifetime, and it was not until many years after his death that he began to be mentioned in the same breath as other notable war poets such as Rupert Brooke and Wilfred Owen (who were inherently more conspicuous because they were officers). In the 1970s, however, there was an upsurge of interest in Rosenberg, who was the subject of several books and exhibitions. As a painter he did some landscapes and allegorical scenes, but the bulk of his work consists of portraits (before the war he had hoped to earn his living from them). There are several self-portraits (the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate, London, each has an example) and these convey particularly well the nervous sensitivity of his style and seriousness of attitude: ‘Art is not a plaything’, he wrote, ‘it is blood and tears.’

Rosenberg, Isaac (1890–1918), poet, attended the Slade School of Art. He published at his own expense a collection of poems, Night and Day (1912), and was encouraged by Bottomley, Pound, and others. In 1915 he published another volume of verse, Youth. In the same year he joined the army and was later killed in action. His poetry is forceful, rich in its vocabulary, and starkly realistic in its attitudes to war. His poor Jewish urban background gives the poems a note not found in the work of his fellow war- poets. Bottomley edited a selection of his poems and letters, introduced by Binyon, in 1922, but it was not until his Collected Works (1937) that his importance became generally accepted. (See also, war poetry.)

Isaac Rosenberg 1890-1918, English poet, b. Bristol. He studied painting at the Slade School (1911-14) and had an exhibition of his work at the Whitechapel Gallery. Although he wrote on other topics, his best poems grew out of his experience as a private during World War I. He was killed in action in France. A volume of his Collected Works was published in 1937.