Dimensions: frame: 744 x 857 x 30 mm image: 548 x 654 mm
Copyright: © Tate | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Here we have David Bomberg's Study for ‘In the Hold’, currently housed at the Tate. The fragmented forms give me a feeling of claustrophobia. What strikes you about the composition? Curator: The geometric structure predominates. Observe how Bomberg uses intersecting lines and planes to dissect the human form into abstract shapes. Do you perceive a tension between representation and abstraction? Editor: Yes, the figures are barely discernible beneath the grid. Is it solely about form, or is there something more? Curator: Consider the interplay of light and shadow, how it sculpts these fragmented forms. The visual rhythm created by the repetition and variation of shapes is essential. Meaning arises from form. Editor: So, the subject matter is secondary to the formal arrangement? I'll have to rethink how I approach this piece. Curator: Precisely. The essence lies in the artist's manipulation of visual elements to create a self-contained, aesthetic experience.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/bomberg-study-for-in-the-hold-t00914
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This study and its related painting demonstrate Bomberg's search for a purely visual language with which to express his perceptions of the urban environment. They show his precocious understanding of Cubism and Futurism, and of the artists who later became known as Vorticists. The subject was based on a scene of dockers working in the hold of a steel ship. A ladder, seen in the lower right of the picture, connects the hold with the deck above. The drawing is divided into sixty-four squares and a diagonal grid which produces a cross in each square. This geometrical framework, repeated in the final painting, dissolves the subject of the picture into dynamic angular facets. Gallery label, September 2004
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