Becoming Gustav Metzger: Uncovering The Early Years, 1945-59

This large portrait, thickly painted in a mix of rich and dun colours, is thought either to be a self-portrait or a portrait of Metzger’s mentor, David Bomberg. Metzger had first enrolled in Bomberg’s class for painting and composition at Borough Polytechnic in 1946 and continued attending until 1953 (with 15 months’ absence in 1948–9 while on the continent). Bomberg’s teaching was inspirational for holding up art as an embodiment of social force, stating that ‘it is the example the artist gives of fulfilling himself in his work that is of social use to others’.