Bath’s a city with many architectural and historical jewels but it also has a few hidden gems. One of them is the Grade 11 listed Jewish Burial Ground in Combe Down. The site is one of the very few relics of the now-vanished Bath Hebrew Congregation.
There is an active ‘Friends’ who – with the aid of donations and money-raising – have been busy affecting repairs and have started restoration of the surrounding cemetery walls.
Good to know that the proceeds from those attending a forthcoming event at the Museum of Bath at Work will add to the funds available.
On May 18th, local art historian Desanka Rowell will present a talk about the ‘Whitechapel Boys’.
At the beginning of the last century, a remarkable group of painters and writers emerged from the community of Jewish refugees in London’s East End. They came to be known as the Whitechapel Boys.
Credit: Southampton Art Gallery, used with permission
From diverse backgrounds, they met at The Slade art school in London between 1908 and 1910, in what was later described as the school’s “last crisis of brilliance.” Between 1910 and 1918 they loved, talked, and fought; they admired, conspired, and sometimes disparaged each others’ artistic creations.
They created new movements; they frequented the most stylish cafés and restaurants and founded a nightclub; they slept with their models and with prostitutes; and their love affairs descended into obsession, murder, and suicide.
Who were they? Why were they in England? And how did their life stories influence their work? Desanka’s illustrated talk will bring their work to life by exploring some of these issues and the painters’ contribution to the founding of British Modernism.
Venue: Museum of Bath at Work, Julian Rd, Bath BA1 2RH. Tickets are £7 at the door or from Eventbrite (search for ‘Whitechapel boys’).
Proceeds – as l said – will go to support the Bath Jewish Burial Ground. Doors open at 7pm, talk 7.30-8.30pm
