Ben Uri Research Unit

Born: 1927 Ystrad, Rhondda, Wales

Died: 1999 Ystrad, Rhondda, Wales

Biography

Painter and teacher, Ernest Zobole was born on 25 April 1927 in Ystrad, Rhondda, Wales, into a family of Italian immigrants who had settled in the region in 1910. His parents were among the many Italians who moved to South Wales during the coal boom before the First World War. His father worked at the local pit, while his mother ran a small shop, typical of many Italian immigrants of the time. Growing up in a vibrant, working-class community, Zobole was brought up as bilingual in English and Italian and was deeply immersed in the industrial landscape of the surrounding Rhondda Valley and its coal mines.

Educated at Porth Grammar School, Zobole's formative years were marked by the backdrop of the Rhondda Valley's coal-mining culture. After his schooling, he served with the British army in Palestine and Egypt, experiences that broadened his perspectives before he returned to Wales to pursue a career in art. Enrolling at Cardiff College of Art from 1948 to 1953, he immersed himself in the study of art under the influence of contemporary European masters. It was during this time that Zobole met like-minded individuals such as Charles Burton, Glyn Morgan, Nigel Flower, David Mainwaring, and Robert Thomas. Together, they formed the Rhondda Group, which was characterised by vigorous discussions and critiques of each other's work, particularly during their daily train commutes to college. Although the group never formalised its principles into a school or manifesto, its members were pivotal in highlighting industrial landscapes as vital subjects for Welsh art. Their collective works over the next decade, while addressing social themes, increasingly leaned towards abstraction, where the realistic depiction was subordinate to the expression of deeper, more subjective experiences of their environment. The Rhondda Valley remained a central theme, serving as both subject and symbol in their art, with the objective reality of the landscape providing a gateway into personal and emotive artistic explorations. Zobole's early artistic output was deeply rooted in the physical and social landscape of the Rhondda. His works from the 1950s capture scenes of the valley, reflecting a gritty realism mixed with a nascent exploration of abstract forms. However, his style evolved significantly after 1952 when he met Jewish refugee, Heinz Koppel, a German-born, expressionist painter. Koppel's influence encouraged Zobole to break conventional pictorial rules, leading to a more abstract and expressionistic style that defined his subsequent works. Despite this stylistic evolution, the Rhondda Valley remained a central theme.

As part of the National Eisteddfod in Llandudno in 1963, Zobole's work was shown alongside that of Brenda Chamberlain, another artist deeply drawn to a specific location—Bardsey Island. The two-person exhibition highlighted the commonalities in their devotion to place, while presenting their differing artistic approaches. Zobole's works, particularly influenced by Russian-born émigré painter, Marc Chagall, transformed everyday scenes of the Rhondda Valley into memory-driven representations, merging Chagall's characteristic blue with the valley's dark hues to create a distinctive, individual style. The exhibition emphasised Zobole's ability to weave memory and landscape into complex visual narratives, the Guardian art critic Anthony Tucker praising him as ‘a fine colourist unafraid of a bold uncompromising and yet unexpectedly soft and gentle’ (Tucker 1963, p. 7)

After his studies, Zobole's brief stint teaching in Anglesey proved artistically unfruitful, prompting his return to the Rhondda Valley. He described this homecoming as 'like getting back into a warm bed' (Wakelin 1999), which rejuvenated his artistic production. His subsequent works displayed a Chagall-like charm, moving through phases of intense, coal-black imagery in the 1960s to a more subdued palette of slate blues, luminous yellows, and soft greens in later years. Throughout his career, Zobole's paintings explored the dichotomy of visual reality and memory, often presenting the valley in dreamlike and surreal compositions. Alongside his teaching career, which lasted until his retirement in the early 1980s, Zobole continued to show his work, notably solo shows at the Piccadilly Gallery in London (1964, 1966) and the Oriel Gallery in Cardiff (1978). His teaching style reflected his artistic philosophy, emphasising creativity and personal expression over conformist techniques. Throughout his life, Zobole nevertheless remained somewhat detached from the commercial art world, focusing instead on his personal artistic journey and the landscapes that inspired him. His reluctance to engage with the art market perhaps limited his broader fame but ensured that his work remained genuine and deeply personal.

Ernest Zobole died in Llwynypia, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wales on 27 November 1999. Posthumous exhibitions were held at the Bridge Gallery, University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd (2002) and University of Glamorgan (2004). More recently, his work was displayed at the Newport Art Gallery (2021). In the UK public domain Zobole’s work is held in major collections, including the National Museum of Wales, University of South Wales, and Newport Museum and Art Gallery.

Related books

Barrie Maskell and Ceri Thomas, 12 Artists in 1956 Wales and Beyond (Pontypridd: University of Glamorgan, 2012)
Ceri Thomas, Ernest Zobole: a Life in Art (Bridgend: Seren, 2007)
Ceri Thomas, Ernest Zobole & Ystrad (Treforest: University of Glamorgan, 2004)
‘A Sculptor and a Painter Shaped by the Valleys’, Western Mail, 24 April 2002, p. 12
Meic Stephens, ‘Obituary: Ernest Zobole’, The Independent, 7 December 1999, p. 7
Peter Wakelin, Creating an Art Community, 50 years of the Welsh Group (Cardiff: National Museum of Wales, 1999)
Two Painters : Brenda Chamberlain, Ernest Zobole (Welsh Committee of the Arts Council, 1963)
Anthony Tucker, ‘New Gallery at Bangor’, The Guardian, 31 October 1963, p. 7
J. E. Ross, ‘The 56 Group Exhibition at Swansea’, The Guardian, 14 May 1963, p. 7
‘Living Welsh Art’, The Observer, 17 March 1963, p. 29
Maurice Cooke, ‘Eisteddfod Exhibition’, The Guardian, 7 August 1963, p. 7
Stephen Bone, ‘Zwemmer and Prospect Galleries’, The Manchester Guardian, 16 June 1956, p. 5
'Welsh Painters Display Their Work', Western Mail and South Wales News, 2 May 1952, p. 2
‘Praise for Cardiff Art Students’, Western Mail, 20 January 1950, p. 4

Related organisations

Cardiff College of Art (student)
Newport Art School (lecturer)
University of Wales, Swansea (Honorary Fellow)
56 Group Wales (member)

Selected exhibitions

Ernest Zobole, Newport Art Gallery (2021)
Ernest Zobole: Retrospective Exhibition, University of Glamorgan, Wales (2004)
Branching Out: Drawings and Paintings by Ernest Zobole 1927-1999; Drawings and Sculptures by Robert Thomas 1929-1999, Bridge Gallery, University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd, Wales (2002)
The Dark Hills the Heavy Clouds, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff; Mostyn Art Gallery, Llandudno, Wales (1981)
Ernest Zobole, Oriel Gallery, Cardiff, Wales (1978)
Art Spectrum Wales, Bangor Art Gallery, Wales (1971)
Ernest Zobole: Recent Paintings, Piccadilly Gallery, London (1966)
Ernest Zobole, Piccadilly Gallery, London (1964)
Brenda Chamberlain and Ernest Zobole, Newport Museum, Wales (1963)
Contemporary Welsh Art, Dillwyn Gallery, Swansea, Wales (1963)
Wales through the Painter’s Eye, Howard Roberts Gallery, Cardiff, Wales (1957)
Four Painters, Prospect Gallery, London (1956)
Contemporary Welsh Artists, Heath Park Training College, Cardiff, Wales (1952)
Students’ Exhibition, Cardiff College of Art, Wales (1950)

Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Ernest Zobole]

Ben Uri Research Unit

for the study and digital recording of the Jewish, Refugee and wide Immigrant contribution to British visual culture since 1900.

Ernest Zobole artist