R.B. Kitaj
R. B. Kitaj was a highly influential painter, draughtsman, and intellectual figure whose work played a central role in the revival of figurative painting in post-war Britain. Closely associated with the School of London, Kitaj developed a distinctive visual language that combined expressive figuration with dense literary, historical, and philosophical references. His art is characterised by bold colour, fragmented composition, and an intense engagement with ideas, memory, and identity.
Kitaj’s work is both visually striking and intellectually demanding. Rejecting abstraction as emotionally and culturally insufficient, he argued for a painting rooted in narrative, scholarship, and personal experience. His paintings frequently explore themes of exile, Jewish identity, sexuality, politics, and the role of the artist in modern society.
Early Life and Background
R. B. Kitaj was born in 1932 in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, in the United States. His early life was marked by instability, including the death of his father at a young age and frequent movement. He served in the merchant navy during his youth, travelling widely and encountering diverse cultures, experiences that would later inform his sense of displacement and exile.
Kitaj’s Jewish heritage became increasingly significant to his identity and work, particularly in later life. The themes of diaspora, intellectual tradition, and historical trauma recur throughout his paintings and writings, shaping his distinctive artistic worldview.
Education and Artistic Formation
Kitaj studied art at the Cooper Union in New York before continuing his education in Europe. He enrolled at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford and later at the Royal College of Art in London. His time in Britain proved formative, placing him at the centre of an emerging generation of figurative painters.
While studying, Kitaj developed a deep engagement with literature, philosophy, and history. He was influenced by writers such as Franz Kafka, Walter Benjamin, and Sigmund Freud, as well as by Old Master painters and modern artists. These intellectual influences became integral to his artistic method, distinguishing his work from more purely visual approaches.
Development of a Figurative Language
From the early 1960s onwards, Kitaj committed himself to figurative painting at a time when abstraction dominated critical discourse. His paintings feature sharply outlined figures, flattened space, and intense colour contrasts. Rather than striving for realism, he employed distortion, fragmentation, and juxtaposition to convey complex psychological and historical narratives.
Kitaj often incorporated written texts, symbols, and references within or alongside his paintings. He believed that modern painting should acknowledge its intellectual sources openly, encouraging viewers to engage with art as a form of thought as well as visual experience.
The School of London
Kitaj was a key figure in articulating and promoting the idea of the School of London, a loose grouping of painters committed to figurative art. This group included artists who shared an interest in the human figure, psychological depth, and painterly tradition, though their styles varied considerably.
Kitaj’s role was not only artistic but also theoretical. He championed figurative painting through essays, lectures, and curatorial projects, helping to legitimise representational art within a modern context. His advocacy had a lasting impact on British painting during the second half of the twentieth century.
Themes of Exile and Jewish Identity
Exile is one of the most persistent themes in Kitaj’s work. His paintings often depict isolated figures, fractured narratives, and ambiguous spaces, reflecting both personal experience and broader historical displacement. Jewish identity became a central concern, particularly after the 1980s, when Kitaj increasingly framed his work within a Jewish intellectual and diasporic tradition.
He explored Jewish history, antisemitism, and cultural memory, often referencing historical events and thinkers. These works are marked by emotional intensity and intellectual urgency, positioning painting as a means of historical testimony and ethical reflection.
Key thematic concerns in Kitaj’s art include:
- Exile and displacement
- Jewish history and identity
- Sexuality and desire
- Intellectual and literary reference
- The moral role of the artist
Technique and Visual Style
Kitaj’s visual style is bold and confrontational. He employed strong contour lines, vivid colour, and compressed pictorial space. Figures are often stylised or distorted, reinforcing emotional and conceptual tension rather than physical accuracy.
His compositions frequently appear crowded or fragmented, mirroring the density of ideas embedded within them. Rather than offering visual resolution, Kitaj embraced ambiguity, allowing multiple interpretations to coexist.
Critical Reception and Controversy
Throughout his career, Kitaj’s work provoked strong critical responses. While admired for its intellectual ambition and painterly power, it was also criticised for perceived obscurity or excessive reliance on theory. A major retrospective in the 1990s was met with harsh criticism, an experience that deeply affected the artist.
Following this period, Kitaj left Britain and returned to the United States, settling in Los Angeles. This self-imposed exile intensified the themes of isolation and grievance in his later work, which became darker in tone and more autobiographical.
Later Work and Writings
In his later years, Kitaj continued to paint prolifically, producing works that addressed ageing, loss, desire, and intellectual legacy. His style became looser and more expressive, while his subject matter grew increasingly personal.
Kitaj was also a prolific writer. His essays and manifestos articulate a passionate defence of figurative painting and the intellectual responsibilities of the artist. These writings are an essential component of his legacy, offering insight into his motivations and theoretical framework.
Death and Posthumous Reputation
R. B. Kitaj died in 2007 in Los Angeles. His death marked the end of a career defined by intensity, argument, and conviction. In the years since, his work has undergone significant reassessment, with growing recognition of his importance to post-war figurative painting.
Scholars and critics increasingly acknowledge Kitaj’s role as both an artist and a thinker, whose commitment to narrative, history, and identity challenged the boundaries of modern art.