Born in East London in 1926, Edna Mann was a painter and co-founder of the Borough Group of artists. First educated at Romford County High School for Girls, Mann went on to study art at the South-East Essex Technical College and School of Art. It was here, in 1942, that she met fellow artists David Bomberg – who was teaching there – and Dorothy Mead. Though initially sceptical of his teaching style, Mann and Mead were won over by Bomberg, and attended his classes throughout the duration of their time at the Technical College. Having accepted a scholarship, Mann followed Bomberg to the Royal College of Art in 1945. Her time there was short-lived due to trenchant opposition – from both herself and her tutors – to Bomberg’s influence.

Despite this, her loyalty to and curiosity around Bomberg remained, and she and Mead enrolled at the City Literary Institute, and later the Borough Polytechnic (now London South Bank University), where he was teaching. Along the way they met Cliff Holden and Peter Richmond. United by their interest in Bomberg, they formed the Borough Group, exhibiting their work – alongside Miles Richmond’s, Leslie Marr’s and Lilian Holt’s – in the late 1940s at the Archer Gallery and Everyman Cinema. This continued until Mann became pregnant and fell victim to Bomberg’s peculiar misogyny, which theorised that motherhood and the life of a serious artist were mutually exclusive. Thus, she was effectively coerced into resigning and – despite her obvious talent – ostracised by Bomberg.

Although Mann continued to paint throughout her life, she rarely exhibited her work and it is extremely rare that one has the opportunity to see her paintings on public display. She is a fascinating artist whose work sailed much closer to abstraction than any other close follower of Bomberg, particularly in the rather cubist composition illustrated here.