Storm over Penarrubia

In the summer of 1935 the Bombergs travelled from Ronda towards the Asturian mountains. Richard Cork (loc. cit.) records that 'during the four months Bomberg spent in the Asturian mountains, he had plenty of opportunity to study the turbulent climatic conditions. In 'Storm over Penarrubia' the advent of thunderous weather was caught on a large-scale canvas, and executed with greater verve and economy than his earlier Spanish paintings had achieved. The cloud-heavy sky is in a state of flux, and its movement also animates the broken forms of the mountains where the dampness of newly fallen rain still seems to glisten. But even though Bomberg is studying a momentary phenomenon, wielding his brush with a spontaneity which accentuates the transcience of the storm, he gives the image considerable substance and monumentality as well. For all their vitality, the tumbling clouds are lodged securely within a composition of immense craggy grandeur'.