Ronald
China

Ron (Ronald) Brooks China (Ronald Brooks Kitaj; 1932, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, - 2007, Los Angeles, USA), an American artist whose name is associated with pop art, is also an ideologue and representative of the so-called. "London School", elected an honorary member of the British Royal Academy of Arts.

A native of Cleveland, Ronald Brooks China first studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and at the New York Cooper Union. And later (after serving in the US Army) he continued his studies in England - at the school of John Ruskin and Royal College of Art.

At the beginning of the creative way, China did not escape fascination with abstract expressionism, however, this novel was fleeting. One of the first he began to combine painting with fragments of photographs, frames from films or verbal commentaries (some critics even thought that China’s works were related to comics). In addition, a fundamental education affected: a man of remarkable erudition, China flooded his paintings with hidden meanings, complex metaphors, quotations. His works were collages not only in terms of technology, but also ideologically.

China argued that the writers always had a greater influence on him than the artists (except Cezanne and Degas) or pop culture. However, the fact that Kafka inspired China more than Mickey Mouse or industrial logos did not prevent him from becoming one of the most prominent figures in pop art.

In 1991, China was elected an honorary member of the British Royal Academy of Arts - becoming the first American to receive this honor in 100 years (the previous John sargent).

In recent years, China has devoted a lot of time to national identity issues. He constantly reflected, spoke and wrote about the fate of the Jewish people. And he must have considered her hopelessly tragic: in 2007, the 74-year-old artist committed suicide.

From the publication "London School", author - Andrey Zimoglyadov