The
following description has been prepared entirely by the current owner, Roberts
S. Fastov, Esq., and, at the collector’s request, has not been edited by Sloans
& Kenyon
Note
1) The following biographical materials are taken from the Askart.com website:
“Raised in an orthodox Jewish family
in Russia, Manė-Katz was born in the Ukraine and became an early
20th-century artist, known especially for portraits and paintings with Jewish
themes. From childhood, he had been influenced by stories of Jewish mysticism,
which was reflected in his paintings.
He had a peripatetic life between
Russia, France, Israel, and America. He first studied art in Kiev at the Beaux
Arts Academy, and in 1913, went to Paris where he associated with Chaim Soutine
and Marc Chagall and continued his art studies there at the Beaux Arts Academy.
During World War I, he tried to join
the Foreign Legion but was rejected because he was too short. He went back in
Russia again, this time joining the Soviet Revolution but rejected the cause
because he was so horrified by Josef Stalin. He worked briefly for the Russian
ballets, and in 1921, he returned to Paris where in 1927 he took French
citizenship. For the next twelve years, he traveled widely, showing his art
work and doing many paintings.
In 1939, as World War II was
breaking out, he was drafted by the French and then was taken prisoner by the
Germans. He escaped and went to the United States and remained there until
1945, exhibiting his paintings at Katia Granoff Gallery and Wildenstein
Gallery. After the war, he returned to Paris where he had exhibited in the
Salons. In Paris to the end of his career, he worked happily, painting hundreds
of portraits of rabbis and works of Jewish symbolism. In this way, it is
thought he was to satisfy his father, who had wanted him to be a rabbi. During
these last years, he also resumed intense travel, going to Brazil, Japan,
Israel and Argentina as well as throughout Europe.
The Mane Katz Museum is in Haifa,
Israel at a mountain top villa that was once the home of the artist.
Source:
http://www.artcult.com/manek.htm
http://www.tripadvisor.com
http://www.roussard.com/artistes/nouveaux/manekatz.html
|
Wikipedia
also notes: “Manė-Katz left his paintings and extensive personal
collection of Jewish ethnography to the city of Haifa, Israel. Four years before his death, the mayor of
Haifa, Abba Hushi,
provided him with a building on Mt.
Carmel to house his work, which
became the Manė-Katz Museum. The exhibit includes Manė-Katz's oils,
showing a progressive change in style over the years, a signed portrait of
the artist by Picasso dated 1932 and a large collection of Jewish ritual
objects. In 1953, Manė-Katz donated eight of his paintings to
the Glitzenstein Museum in Safed, whose artists quarter attracted leading Israeli artists
in the 1950s and 1960s, and housed some of the country's most important
galleries.” Note 2) Literature: See “Manė-Katz 1894-1962: The Complete
Works” [2 volumes] by Robert S. Aries
and Jacques O'Hana; London Editions d'Art Jacques O'Hana (1970). Red-headed people and Rabbis figure
prominently in Manė-Katz's oeuvre. See Mané- Katz 1894-1962 The
Complete Works, Vol. 1, by Robert S. Aries in collaboration with Jacques
O'Hanna. (1970) See e.g., No. 435, “The Red Beard,” 1956, signed upper left,
oil on canvas, 92 x 73 cm. for a depiction of a Rabbi with a red beard that
is very similar to the depiction of the Rabbi in the lower left of the
painting being offered at auction. Mane- Katz is also well known for
paintings in which the figures hold outstretched arms with big hands and
fingers, painted in an elongated spatulate manner. See, e.g. No. 410 “The
Prayer,” No. 411 “Invocation,” No. 414 “Invocation, No. 399 “The Prophet
Elijah” and No. 884 “Agony.” This painting is an excellent and valuable work
of art by Mané-Katz. It depicts not one, but two Rabbis, one of whom has a
flaming red hair and beard, which enhances the main and most important aspect
of this painting, which is the almost inflamed and highly dramatic religious
passion inspired by the words, meaning and philosophy of the Torah. Mr.
Fastov's review of the catalogue raisonné on Mané-Katz and the 730 Mané-Katz
works offered at auction, per Askart.com and Artprice.com, do not manifest
this kind of dramatic passion of two Rabbis or any subject, that is similar
to this composition of this painting and have caused him to conclude that
this painting may be unique and very important painting in the Mané-Katz
oeuvre. Regarding the reasonableness of the estimate of $75,000-$100,000, see
below the image of Mané-Katz's “Two Rabbis Dancing,” oil on canvas, 36 1/4
in. x 28 3/4, in. which was sold by Matsart-Millon for $89,359 on 7/5/2011 in
Jerusalem. Going back to 1996, when prices were much lower, see below the
image of “Rabbi With Sefer Torah And Two
Talmidim “ oil on canvas, 39 3/8 in. x
31 7/8, in. which was sold by Sotheby's for $50,000 on 4/11/96 in Tel Aviv. Volume 1, p. 134, No. 435, entitled “The Red
Beard,” depicting one Rabbi, obviously with a red beard, holding a Torah,
painted in 1956, whose depiction is very similar to the flaming red-haired
Rabbi depicted in the lower left of the painting being offered at this
auction. The catalogue raisonné also makes clear that Manė-Katz painted
a number of Rabbis with red beards. At p. 128, Volume I, No. 410, “The prayer”
and No. 411, “Invocation,” in which persons with elongated upstretched arms
and hands are engaged in essentially the same gestures and arm movements, as
are present in the above painting being offered at auction; hence, the above
alternative description that the two Rabbis in this painting are either “
Praying or Making an Invocation. Note
3) Manė-Katz was a prolific painter, concentrating primarily on painting
various aspects of the Jewish experience and culture. His subject matter and
compositions depict a wide variety of figures and scenes reflecting the broad
Jewish experience and culture. His auction records demonstrate clearly that
his paintings, when sold, can be exceedingly valuable. Below is a listing of
auction records showing that Manė-Katz paintings sold at auction bring
in excess of $75,000 for a wide variety of subject matter. No painting
offered at auction by Manė-Katz is identical to the subject matter
offered in the painting for sale at this auction. Nonetheless, there is one
painting, which brought $130,000 that has the subject matter of a Rabbi With
Torah, which was painted by Manė-Katz at approximately the same time,
1959, as the Manė-Katz painting being offered at this auction (c. 1956),
and Rabbi With Torah is approximately the same size (39 3/8 in. x 31 7/8 in. as
the auction painting (39 ¾ in. x 28 3/4 in.: See also Two Rabbis Dancing,
which brought $89,359 and measured 36 ¼ in. x 28 ¾ in.), which is slightly
smaller than this Manė-Katz auction painting. Both
of these paintings are highly relevant in establishing the value of
Manė-Katz paintings and ones depicting one or more Rabbis with a Torah,
as is the case with the Manė-Katz painting being offered at this
auction. This auction painting is an extremely passionate and emotive
portrayal of the passion, inspiration, zeal and vigor of the two Rabbis in
responding to the Torah and its teachings. In this case, it appears that this
auction painting is almost unique in Manė-Katz oeuvre, but for the above
reference to the red-headed Rabbi painting set forth in the Manė-Katz
catalogue raisonné at Volume 1, p. 134, No.
435. All of the foregoing considerations and the Manė-Katz
painting sales set forth below reflecting numerous painting sales at $75,000
or more; and the above Manė-Katz biographical material including the
establishment of the “Mane Katz Museum is in Haifa, Israel at a mountain top
villa that was once the home of the artist” make clear that the above presale
estimate of $75,000-$150,000 is reasonable and justifiable.
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
