George Weissbort was born in Brussels in 1928. Seven years later his family moved to London.

 

Throughout his childhood he was fascinated by drawing, and during the war, at Oxford, his friend Joseph Horovitz - whose father had brought the Phaidon Press from Vienna to England - introduced him to Arthur Segal, an “experimental” painter who had come to naturalism late in his career. Segal’s credo was simple: Nature (optical realism) is wonderful; the nearer you approach its beauty, the more beautiful your paintings become.

 

After early flirtation with the “modern art” of the ‘40’s, Weissbort gradually realized that Segal’s credo was nearly enough to inspire him for the rest of his life.

George Weissbort was born in Brussels in 1928. Seven years later his family moved to London.

 

Throughout his childhood he was fascinated by drawing, and during the war, at Oxford, his friend Joseph Horovitz - whose father had brought the Phaidon Press from Vienna to England - introduced him to Arthur Segal, an “experimental” painter who had come to naturalism late in his career. Segal’s credo was simple: Nature (optical realism) is wonderful; the nearer you approach its beauty, the more beautiful your paintings become.

 

After early flirtation with the “modern art” of the ‘40’s, Weissbort gradually realized that Segal’s credo was nearly enough to inspire him for the rest of his life.

 

The second pillar of his studies was the work of the Old Masters. It was the late Bernard Meninsky, who taught life drawing at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London during the war, who transmitted this half of his credo to Weissbort.

 

Starting with modern masters, like Cezanne and Matisse, Weissbort gradually moved backwards in time to his final lodestars - Mantegne, Titian, and Vermeer. Today, he works unremittingly, inspired by nature and his exemplars, trying continuously to improve, exploring the infinite and strenuous worlds of line, shape, tone, form and colour.

 

He strives to combine emotion and reason; all the elements alive and developing, in systems governed by a visual logic that can be analysed and discussed. Weissbort has written a number of short essays on painting and the painters who have inspired him.

George has painted many portraits, including those of:

 

  • Chief Rabbi Brodie.

  • Chairman of British Dental Association.

  • Casper Blonde (Cancer Surgeon and researcher).

  • Manny Shinwell.

  • Lord Harris.

  • Lady Rosa and Sir Sidney Lipworth

  • Jonathan Miller.

 

George died after a short illness on the 9th July 2013, aged 85.