Bernard Meninsky

Bernard Meninsky was a British painter of figures and landscapes in oil, watercolour and gouache. He was born in 1891 at Konotop in the Ukraine into a Jewish family. He studied at the Academie Julian in Paris and at the Slade School of Fine Art. He was a member of a close group of artists which included William Roberts RA, Edward Wadsworth and Clara Klinghoffer.
His work was influenced by that of Picasso, particularly in his depiction of figures. Meninsky has four works in the Tate Gallery collection including ‘Standing Female Nude in a Landscape’ painted circa 1940-1943 and ‘Sleeping Woman in a Landscape’ painted circa 1945 – 1950 which relate closely to the style and execution of the present painting. It also ties in closely with the Cubist paintings being painted at a similar time by his friend William Roberts RA.
At the Slade he met several ‘Whitechapel Boys’ including David Bomberg and Mark Gertler. In 1919 he was elected to the London Group and held his first exhibition of ‘Mother and Child’ Drawings at the Goupil Gallery. He was elected to the New English Art Club in 1923.
A memorial exhibition of his work was held by the Arts Council in 1950, and further solo shows were held posthumously at the Ben Uri Gallery in 1957. A touring retrospective exhibition was held in Oxford Coventry and London in 1981.

museums

Tate modern Gallery

Ben Uri Gallery London