A 'genius' said Siegfried Sassoon.
The 'most remarkable' of the First World War poets, according to T.S. Eliot.
The son of Jewish Lithuanian immigrants, Rosenberg grew up in deprived circumstances in London's East End and had to leave school at 14 to work. Thanks to Birkbeck College, however, where the fees were modest and the standards high, he was able to continue his studies at night. During his years at Birkbeck's art department (1907-1911) he received a sound training, won several prizes and produced his earliest known self-portrait, now at Tate Britain.
This same rigorous training enabled him to win a place at the Slade School of Fine Art, which he attended from 1911 to 1914. He was staying with his sister, Minnie, in Cape Town when war broke out.
The war put an end to Rosenberg's hopes of earning a living through painting or writing. In 1915 he enlisted in the British army. He was killed near Arras on April 1, 1918, in the great German spring offensive. His remains are unidentified to this day and his only real memorial is a gravestone in France recording his name and his profession, 'Artist and Poet'.
The 'most remarkable' of the First World War poets, according to T.S. Eliot.
The son of Jewish Lithuanian immigrants, Rosenberg grew up in deprived circumstances in London's East End and had to leave school at 14 to work. Thanks to Birkbeck College, however, where the fees were modest and the standards high, he was able to continue his studies at night. During his years at Birkbeck's art department (1907-1911) he received a sound training, won several prizes and produced his earliest known self-portrait, now at Tate Britain.
This same rigorous training enabled him to win a place at the Slade School of Fine Art, which he attended from 1911 to 1914. He was staying with his sister, Minnie, in Cape Town when war broke out.
The war put an end to Rosenberg's hopes of earning a living through painting or writing. In 1915 he enlisted in the British army. He was killed near Arras on April 1, 1918, in the great German spring offensive. His remains are unidentified to this day and his only real memorial is a gravestone in France recording his name and his profession, 'Artist and Poet'.