R. B. Kitaj was born in Chagrin Falls, USA in 1932 into a non-practising Jewish family; after studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria and serving in the US Army, he moved to England to study at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford (1958–59), and then at the Royal College of Art, London (1959 –61). Kitaj became a key figure in European and American contemporary painting; his often controversial work, explored history, cultural, social and political ideologies, as well as his conflicted Jewish-American identity.

Listen to his story here or read the full biography on the BURU database: https://www.buru.org.uk/contributor/rb-kitaj