Gerald Ososki was born to Russian-Jewish parents in east London, England in 1903, studying at St Martin’s School of Art and Royal College of Art. He became well-known for his sepia-toned portraits and his landscapes of Hampstead, where he lived subsequently. He exhibited extensively in the UK, holding his first solo exhibition at the Claridge Gallery, London in 1929. Alongside his work as a painter, in 1934 he established Roffe Ltd, a specialist restoration firm which worked on historic buildings in England, including St James’ Palace and Windsor Castle.
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 from 1922-26. Fellow students included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Edward Burra; Ososki was also close to Hubert Arthur Finney (1905-1991), Charles Mahoney (1903-1968) and Barnett Freedman (1901-1958). All four were associated with the rather obscure Stanhope Street Group, appearing together in Freedman's group portrait, The Stanhope Street Group(1926), which depicted other ‘members’, including Alan Sorrell and possibly William Rothenstein or Robert Buhler (Liss Llewellyn). Remaining friends with Rothenstein, Ososki would visit his Gloucestershire home on numerous occasions, depicting the local countryside. Ososki became well-known for his sepia-toned portraits and his landscapes in pen and ink, chalk, pastel or watercolour, which were informed by the work of the old masters; his pastorals were described as ‘classical in spirit’(Fealdman 1987, p. 17). He also produced many watercolours of Hampstead Heath, where he now lived. In 1927 he contributed ‘some excellent drawings’ to an exhibition of contemporary painting and sculpture at the Mansard Gallery above Heal's furniture store (The Times 1927, p. 10). In 1929 his work was included in the New English Art Club (NEAC) exhibition, the Jewish Chronicle noting some similarities in ‘execution and feeling’ with Morris Kestelman’s drawings. In the same year, Ososki held his first solo exhibition at London's Claridge Gallery. Despite his ‘mechanical exactitude’, The Times described Ososki as a ‘modern painter’ because ‘superimposed on his accurate realism, is a colour scheme not often realistic’. The review also noted the ‘free and pleasant calligraphy of his drawings’ (The Times 1929, p. 14). In 1932 Ososki participated in Nineteen Artists at the Zwemmer Gallery. In the same year, Ososki contributed to the East End Academy Exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery an oil painting of a nude, ‘remarkable for the perfect co-ordination of subject and background’, and the gouache Stream in the Wood, ‘a pleasant study of light threading through leaves’ (S. 1932, p. 16). In 1935 he illustrated King Arthur and his Knights for publishers Philip & Tacey.
During the 1930s' economic slump, unable to support himself solely by his art, Ososki established Roffe Ltd in 1934, specialising in interior decoration for theatres and cinemas. After working in the British camouflage unit during the Second World War, Roffe Ltd grew into a specialist restoration firm employing 100 artist-craftsmen. It restored a number of important historic buildings, including St James’ Palace, Windsor Castle, Clarence House, Lancaster House (where Ososki carried out the largest gilding job in Britain up to that date), White State Ballroom at Buckingham Palace and Marlborough House, where 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 nine group exhibitions at Ben Uri Gallery during his lifetime. He also exhibited regularly at London's Goupil Gallery, Leicester Galleries, Mall Galleries, NEAC, Redfern Gallery and with 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 in 1973, which comprised ‘a worthy selection with sensitive portraits and amusing baroque mythology’ (Stone 1973, p. 16). In 1973 he exhibited alongside Jewish-Romanian artists Zoltan Perlmutter at the North Western Reform Synagogue, Golders Green, as part of series of events celebrating the 40th anniversary of its foundation. A watercolour of Florence earned him success in the Laing Art Competition in 1976.
Gerald Ososki died in Hampstead, London, England in 1981. A memorial exhibition was held at Ososki’s home, 7 Heath Hurst Road, Hampstead in 1982. Reviewing the show, Barry Fealdman, art critic of the Jewish Chronicle and secretary to Ben Uri, wrote that Ososki’s drawings of Italy, North Wales and Dorset revealed ‘his superb penmanship and the assurance of his approach to landscape. He had a genuine feeling for nature’ (Fealdman 1982, p. 12). Further memorial exhibitions included the Alpine Gallery (1983) – which set his work alongside that of some illustrious contemporaries, including Jewish artists David Bomberg, Mark Gertler, Jacob Epstein, Jacob Kramer and Rothenstein – and Ben Uri Gallery (1987), which featured over 90 drawings, paintings and watercolours selected from over 50 years of creativity. Ososki’s work is represented in UK public collections including Ben Uri; Birkbeck, University of London; and Braintree District Museum.
Gerald Ososki in the Ben Uri collection
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Gerald Ososki]
Publications related to [Gerald Ososki] in the Ben Uri Library