Painter and draughtsman Gerald Ososki was born to Russian-Jewish parents in East London, England in 1903. He took night classes at St Martin’s School of Art (1917-22) before his drawings were noticed by Sir William Rothenstein, who facilitated his admission into the Royal College of Art on a scholarship, where he taught him between 1922 and 1926. Ososki became well-known for his sepia-toned portraits and watercolours of Hampstead Heath and had his first solo exhibition at the Claridge Gallery in London in 1929. During the 1930s' economic slump, unable to support himself solely by his art, Ososki established Roffe Ltd, specialising in interior decoration for theatres and cinemas. After working in the British camouflage unit during the Second World War, Ososki redirected Roffe Ltd to restoring several historic English buildings including St James’ Palace, Clarence House, and Marlborough House. At the latter he helped uncover previously lost 18th-century murals by Louis Laguerre.
Ososki exhibited at the Royal Academy throughout the 1950s and 1960s, was part of the Tate Gallery’s ‘Seventeen Collectors Exhibition’ (1952), and participated in exhibitions of Contemporary Jewish Artists in 1952, 1954, and 1956 at Ben Uri Gallery. He exhibited regularly in London at the Goupil Gallery the Leicester Galleries, The Mall galleries, the New English Art Club (NEAC), the Redfern Gallery and the Royal Society of British Artists, as well as in the USA, Canada and Australia. In 1972 he was awarded the De Laszlo Medal, resulting in a solo exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London in 1973; he won the Laing Art Competition in 1976. Gerald Ososki died in Hampstead, London, England in 1981. A retrospective exhibition of his work was held at Ben Uri in 1987. His work is represented in UK collections including Birkbeck, University of London and Braintree District Museum.
