Outskirts of Alora, Spain

Maker David Bomberg (British, 1890 - 1957)

Additional Title(s)

Andalusia; outskirts of Alera

Collections

ClassificationsDRAWINGS

Date1935

Mediumcharcoal on laid paper

Dimensions23 3/4 × 17 3/4 in. (60.3 × 45.1 cm.) sheet: 24 3/4 × 18 1/2 in. (62.9 × 47 cm.)

SignedSignature: Bomberg 35 Alera in Malaga, Spain

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

Not on view

Label TextBomberg’s later works, such as this drawing, evoke the tradition of British naturalism. They combine his interest in capturing the experience of the natural world with the free, expressive style for which he became known. The artist and his family had moved to Spain in 1934, settling for a time in Andalusia. In its perched villages, sprouting out of craggy plateaus of rock or straddling deep ravines, he strove to express the seismic violence of the land’s history. This drawing depicts a medieval castle overlooking the village of Alora, clinging to the jutting tip of its hilltop. In broad, free strokes of charcoal, Bomberg captures the looming mass of the formation and the precariousness of its human occupation (2022).

Object number94.2

Exhibitions

20th Century British Works on Paper