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The St John Ophthalmic Hospital, Jerusalem

This painting shows the Ophthalmic Hospital on the Bethlehem Road, Jerusalem, which opened in 1882. In 1948, the state of Israel was founded, and the Hospital found itself in a new country. Palestinians formed the majority of the patients, and access to the Hospital became difficult, so the building was sold. The Hospital moved to the centre of old Jerusalem until a new hospital opened in East Jerusalem in 1960.

This object is on display

Object type: Paintings
Date: Production: 1927
Artist: David Bomberg (1890 - 1957)
Subject(s): Hospitals
Public Health
Medicine
Inscriptions: obverse: Bomberg '27
Dimensions: Height x width x depth: 908 x 997 x 51mm
Materials and technique: Oil on canvas
Physical description: Painting shows the hospital building from the bottom of the hill, with rich oranges and greens and blues depicting the hill the hospital is sat on and the sky. The frame is black, convex, with gold ripple moulded edging, incised foliage decoration at corners.
Production place: Jerusalem
Related place(s): Palestine
References: Cork, Richard. David Bomberg in Palestine: 1923-1927. Jerusalem: The Israel Museum, 1983.
Pages 16 and 43

Cork, Richard. David Bomberg. London: Tate Publishing Ltd, 1988.
Page 91

Foakes, Tom, ed. Treasures: Faith, Care, Valour: Highlights from the Collection of the Museum of the Order of St John. Priory of England and the Islands of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, 2019.
Page 114
Provenance: Commissioned by Sir John Strathearn CB, KStJ while Warden of the St John Eye Hopsital, Jerusalem.
Exhibition history: David Bomberg: A Sense of Place, Towner Eastbourne, 9 July 2016-11 September 2016

David Bomberg, Tate Gallery, 7 February 1988-8 May 1988

David Bomberg in The Holy Land 1923-1927, Ben Uri Gallery and Museum, 30 January 1984-29 February 1984

David Bomberg in Palestine, 1923 - 1927, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1983
Credit line: Gift of Lady Strathearn, 1951
Catalogue number: 1806