On Tuesday, October 27, paintings, sculptures, photographs, and works on paper spanning nearly one hundred years of Israeli and Jewish art will be sold at auction by Montefiore Auction House in Tel Aviv, Israel. The auction will also be showcased live via iCollector.com, enabling visitors from around the world to participate in real time and bid online.
Sales organized by Montefiore Auction House present a rare opportunity to access both masterworks and studies by prominent artists, including members of the École de Paris, Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts, and the contemporary Israeli art scene. David Bomberg, Pincas Cohen Gan, Moshe Gershuni, Nachum Gutman, Nir Hod, Isidor Kaufman, Moshe Kupferman, Chana Orloff, Ori Reisman, and Reuven Rubin represent just a small selection of the diverse group of artists featured.
“It’s been a pleasure to collaborate with Montefiore Auction House to bring this well-rounded collection of Jewish art to the worldwide stage,” says Thorsten Bonn, President of iCollector.com. “A successful client offering online live bidding since their inception, Montefiore meticulously selects artwork that will further establish both celebrated and emerging artists in this growing market.”
The sale, “Montefiore Auction House’s Auction no. 12 of Israeli and International Art,” will take place on October 27 at 20:00 o’clock Israel time (11:00 Pacific Time, 14:00 Eastern Time) at the Dan Hotel Tel Aviv and will include 291 item with the total estimated value of 2 million USD. A preview featuring images, estimates, and start prices is available at the following link:
http://www.icollector.com/Montefiore-Auction-House-Auction-12_as15078
A veritable star of the auction is the engaging portrait of Elisabeth Zurkow by Austro-Hungarian painter Isidor Kaufman. Marek Zurkow, who became a delegate to the first Jewish Congress following World War II, commissioned Kaufman to paint this portrait of his niece. Zurkow subsequently presented it as a gift to Mr. and Mrs. Motie Stoliar, the owners and directors of The Israelitan Daily.
The auction also features works of several artists from the École de Paris, a term broadly applied to foreign artists—many Jewish—who settled in Paris in the early twentieth century. Moise Kisling’s striking early piece, “Jacinthe,” c. 1916, depicting a gently leaning hyacinth flower, and the strong abstract forms and decorative swirls in Ossip Zadkine’s “Three Figures,” 1925, reflect these artists participation in the development of the Cubist and Expressionist styles of painting.
Other highlights of this period include work by Emmanuel Mané-Katz, who was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family in the Ukraine before traveling to Paris in 1913. In the evocative Praying Jews, he employs the loose brushwork of Expressionism in his exploration of shtetl life. The lush application of paint and vibrant colors in André Lanskoy’s “Still Life on a Table,” make the fish, flowers, and lemons depicted appear truly delectable. In her “Portrait of Shalom Asch,” 1932, Chana Orloff uses her own language of smooth textures and simplified shapes, to capture the serious gaze of this insightful Yiddish writer.
A favorite topic of the time, “The Fables of La Fontaine,” inspired by Aesop’s fables, are illustrated in fanciful and dynamic works by both Marc Chagall and Dada artist Marcel Janco. Selected works-on-paper by greats such as Pablo Picasso, Fernand Leger and Jean Cocteau are also available.
The auction also features work by highly significant Israeli artists. In “Motherhood,” by one of the most well-known, Reuven Rubin, the mother is composed almost entirely of swirling red cloth enveloping a small child. Nachum Gutman’s singular watercolors and oil paintings delicately bring life to both flowers and monuments. Similarly, Avigdor Arikha captures the graceful gesture of a violin player, and the tumultuous landscape of Jerusalem in ink, crayon and pencil.
Much of the mixed media and conceptual work created between the 1970 and 1990s was essential in defining Israeli art. Key artists included in the sale are Haim Maor, Moshe Kupferman, Moshe Gershuni, and Pinchas Cohen Gan. Menashe Kadishman’s signature portrayals of sheep heads, two of which are presented for auction, are at once whimsical and replete with sadness and deep meaning. Also available is his ethereal iron cutout “Doves of Peace” in which the birds appear effortlessly suspended in air.
Contemporary Israeli artists are also represented, including a self-portrait by prominent young New York and Tel Aviv based artist Nir Hod. Also a self-portrait, Lika Ramati’s image for her own Yaffa Café, has become one of many icons of New York’s East Village.
Montefiore Auction House
Montefiore Auction House is situated in the center of Tel Aviv, on 34 Nachmani Street, Tel Aviv, Israel, near to the famous Rothschild Avenue. The Auction House holds several auctions each year, which include both Israeli and international artworks: paintings, sculptures, photographs, graphic and paper art of past and present well-known artists.
Auctions take place in the prestigious Dan Hotel Tel Aviv, on 99 HaYarkon St., Tel Aviv, Israel. The items included in the auction are on view for a week prior to the event. In addition, items are available through the website on the Buy it Now section for direct sale, where the prices include VAT and the auction house commission.
Montefiore Auction House
34 Nachmani Street, Tel Aviv, Israel
Tel: 972-3-5668818, Fax: 972-3-5668838
Email: [email protected]