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R.B. Kitaj

(1932 - )

Works

The Jew, Etc.
Drancy
Germania (The Tunnel)
If Not, Not
Passion Writing
The Jewish Rider
The Listener (Joe Singer in Hiding)

Country

United States / England

Biography

R. B. (Ronald Brooks) Kitaj was born on October 29, 1932 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was raised by his mother and a Viennese Jewish stepfather, and attended art classes as a child at the Cleveland Museum of Art. In the early 1950's he studied at the Cooper Union Institute in New York, the Academy of Fine Art in Vienna, and also spent time as a merchant seaman. After serving in the US Army from 1956-57, he attended the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Arts, followed by the Royal College of Art in London. Kitaj spent a substantial number of years working in London, and is credited with coining the term School of London, used to describe a group of artists including Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Kitaj himself, and others dedicated to the depiction of the human form. Kitaj has also been loosely associated with the British Pop Art movement of the 1960s, though his works differ in their complexity and use of figurative imagery. Kitaj's works feature references to literature, history, and art history, and are often strongly biographical, dealing with themes of nostalgia, loss, and the question of Jewish identity. Kitaj has been the subject of numerous retrospectives, has taught both in London and in America, and is the third American to be elected to England's Royal Academy. Kitaj returned to the United States in 1997 and currently lives and works in Los Angeles.

Visual Arts Library

R.B. Kitaj

Works

Country

Biography

Further Reading