Jankel Adler was born in Lodz, Poland, and studied at the School of Applied Arts in Barmen (now Wuppertal). He made frequent visits to Germany, settling in Düsseldorf in the early 1920s, where he met Otto Dix and Paul Klee. It is probable that he learnt the technique of ‘off-set’ monotype from Klee which he later passed on to many young British artists after World War II when he settled in Britain. Adler served with the Polish Army and was evacuated from Dunkirk. He lived for a time in Glasgow, later moving to London where he set up a studio near Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde, the artists John Minton, Keith Vaughan and Prunella Clough lived nearby. He made a small group of etchings during the early 1920s and exhibited lithographs at the London Society of Painter-Printers at the Redfern Gallery in the late 1940s.

Further reading:
Robin Garton, British Printmakers 1855-1955, Garton & Co in association with Scolar Press, Aldershot 1992

Glossary

  • Monotype

    The artist may draw or paint onto a surface such as glass or metal and then press paper onto the image to take its impression. Because the ink or other medium is transferred to the paper only one good impression can be made.