R.B.Kitaj was born in America but spent much of his professional life in London. As a student at the Royal College of Art in the early 1960s he became great friends with David Hockney and was initially associated with Pop Art. He subsequently promoted the notion of a School of London as a way of drawing attention to the artists he most admired, becoming associated with Andrews, Auerbach, Bacon, Freud and Kossoff.
His visually striking yet iconographically complex pictures combine a variety of sources including literature, philosophy, movies and art.
His visually striking yet iconographically complex pictures combine a variety of sources including literature, philosophy, movies and art.