Ben Uri Research Unit

Born: 1915 Varna, Bulgaria

Died: 1999 Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain

Year of Migration to the UK: 1939

Other name/s: Vladimir Daskaloff, Vladimir Georgieff Daskaloff, George Daskaloff

Biography

Artist Vladimir Daskaloff (known under his art name ‘Daskal’) was born in Varna, Bulgaria, on 2 February 1915, into a family from Sofia, to a German mother. The family soon moved to Sofia, where he studied under the guidance of his architect father. At 14, he moved to Hamburg to study to be a merchant marine at the Naval Academy. He spent nearly 2 years sailing around Cape Horn and building ships. His time there caused severe rheumatism, resulting in a 3-month hospitalization in 1931. During this time, he created drawings and portraits, leading to exposure to Otto Sohn-Rethel, a professor at the Academy of Düsseldorf, securing his entry into the academy. In 1932, he sold his first painting and used the funds to go to Italy, where he was introduced to Italian influences. He returned to Düsseldorf, a central hub for modern art in Germany. Here, he briefly enrolled and studied the works of Henri Matisse, André Derain, the ‘École de Paris’ and the Italian Futurists. The Düsseldorf period was key in shaping Daskal’s artistic practice, with a clear influence from the Bauhaus, Klee and Piet Mondrian. Following his brief stint at the Academy, Daskal traveled extensively, painting in prominent European cities, including Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and The Hague, for the next eight years. His first solo exhibition took place between 1932–33 at Alfred Flechtheim’s renowned eponymous Berlin gallery. Flechtheim, editor of the German avant-garde and cultural magazine Der Querschnitt and later an émigré art dealer and gallerist in London, played a key role in promoting Daskal’s early work. Subsequent exhibitions followed, including one at the Stuckert Gallery in Düsseldorf in 1935 and another in The Hague in 1936. However, life in Germany became increasingly difficult with the rise of Nazism and Daskal was forced to flee Germany just before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Leaving most of his artworks behind, Daskal arrived in England where he faced economic hardship, despite his noble status, and took on various jobs to survive. During exile in Surrey, escaping the Blitz, he designed cardboard toys and taught painting to Augustus John’s daughter. He eventually settled in Cambridge, where he began teaching art. He also became associated with the British photographer Lettice Ramsey (who ran the Ramsey & Muspratt Studio in Cambridge). For a period, he lived in her home, becoming one of her romantic partners. Ramsey’s portrait of Daskal is an dramatic experiment with avant-garde photography. Her photographic collection also includes a portrait of Daskal’s daughter, Anna.

In 1941, Daskal enrolled at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he rejected artistic conservatism. He connected with key modernist figures, including Polish émigré artist Jankel Adler and the English painter, Graham Sutherland. Daskal's work throughout the 1940s displayed an effort to rebuild European pre-war painting, as exemplified by his 1944 exhibition Apropos at London’s Arcade Gallery. In 1946, when Daskal was commissioned to paint a mural for a Liverpool hotel, it was rejected by the establishment, which had anticipated a more traditional aesthetic. The director of Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery deemed the work competent, but contemporary in style (Daily Express, 1946, p. 3). The Bauhaus remained a clear inspiration in his continuing exploration of balanced geometric abstraction, while influences from Cubism and Futurism are evident in fragmented forms and the incorporation of multiple perspectives; other pieces reveal a more lyrical and expressionist sensibility, contributing to a versatile body of work.

Daskal married Helen Bremmer in 1959, with whom he had three daughters, Nadia, Anna and Stefa. Daskal’s second wife was Florence Cole, who had a stepson named John Walter. In addition to his art, Daskal maintained his lifelong passion for sailing, and the couple spent several years seafaring on their sailing boat. Captivated by the Mallorcan village of Estellencs, they built a house and studio there and eventually returned to life on land. For a period, they lived between Spain and England. Daskal’s grandchildren often visited them in Mallorca, quickly developing a deep appreciation for Spain and its culinary traditions. This connection culminated in the establishment of Bar Daskal, a Spanish wine and sherry bar, in Borough Yards, London, in 2022. The bar, named in Daskal’s honour, is owned by his grandson Eddie, the brother of Sam and James Hart. Daskal was the inspiration of Bar Daskal, but it only holds a few paintings of his as the majority are in the homes of his daughters, stepson, and grandchildren. The bar’s interior design is influenced by the aesthetic of the Estellencs home and its surrounding landscape. Vladimir Daskal died in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain on 3 March 1999. His works are not held in any public collections in the UK, though archives at Trinity College, Cambridge contain correspondence.

Related books

No author, ‘Critics dispute “ugly women” on wall’, Daily Mirror, 19 November 1946, p. 7
No author, ‘Case of the £300 Spanish Ladies’, Daily Express, 19 November 1946, p. 3

Related organisations

University of Cambridge (student )

Selected exhibitions

Vladimir Daskal (solo exhibition), Palau Solleric, Mallorca (1988)
Apropos (solo exhibition), Arcade Gallery, London (1944)
The Hague (1936) – details unconfirmed
Vladimir Daskal (solo exhibition), Stuckert Gallery, Düsseldorf (1935)
Vladimir Daskal (solo exhibition), Alfred Flechtheim’s Gallery, Berlin (1932-33)

Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Vladimir Daskal]