About the artist
Isaac Rosenberg, born in Bristol, England on November 25, 1890, came from a poor Jewish immigrant family. He was raised in the destitute streets of Whitechapel. As talented as he was in writing and drawing from a young age, he found himself reluctantly apprenticed to a Fleet Street engraving firm by age 14. However, Rosenberg managed to attend Birkbeck College in the evenings for art classes, where he bagged numerous honors. Later, the Slade School of Fine Art became his alma mater (1911–14), following the footsteps of Mark Gertler and David Bomberg. Being financially constrained, he often painted himself and landscapes.
Come October 1915, Rosenberg joined the army and was dispatched to the Front in 1916. It's from there he sent back the touching piece, Self-portrait in Steel Helmet. He tragically lost his life at just 27 during a patrol in Fampoux, France on April 1, 1918. Rosenberg published only a pair of poetry collections during his short life. Today, he's remembered as one of the greatest War Poets of his time.
