Dimensions: support: 468 x 633 mm
Copyright: © Tate | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: This is David Bomberg's "Picos de Europa, Asturias, Spain," a charcoal drawing. I find the composition quite brooding. What do you see in this piece, considering its starkness? Curator: Bomberg uses the mountain as a primal symbol. Peaks often represent aspiration and spiritual ascension, but here, the dark charcoal almost buries that hope. Notice how the lines seem to push downward, a kind of visual gravity. Editor: So, it’s less about reaching enlightenment and more about… being weighed down? Curator: Perhaps. Or perhaps it is about the struggle to reach enlightenment, the very real, heavy work of finding the spiritual within the earthly. It is in the contrast of light and dark that the true meaning resides. Editor: That gives me a new way to look at it. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure. Art always has more to teach us.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/bomberg-picos-de-europa-asturias-spain-t04891
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In 1935 Bomberg spent four months in the Asturian mountains in northern Spain; he would have stayed longer had it not been for the impending civil war. He was attracted to the rugged and dramatic scenery and the simple, isolated life of the locals. This drawing typifies Bomberg’s use of strong line and heavy shading to evoke the massive presence of the mountains while resisting the creation of illusionistic depth. The scale of the scene is emphasised by the way the hills fill the picture frame. Gallery label, September 2004
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