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Louise Schatz
1950's Modernist Watercolor Painting Israeli Bezalel School Bauhaus Style

1959

About the Item

Louise (McClure) Schatz (1916 – 1997) Born in Vancouver, Canada, Louise Schatz moved with her family at age three to Minnesota. Her father, a stage director, was part of the local Bohemian culture and traveled the theater circuit around the U.S. She earned a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts at the University of California, where she became a skilled water colorist. “My Japanese instructor showed me how to preserve several colors together on paper,” she noted. “Water colors can bleed into the paper, and the paper plays with the colors – some of which can even disappear. I have a great love of texture and what materials do to color. I was very excited to discover what happens to colors and how to achieve what I wanted.” Her interest in astronomy also led Louise to study science at the university. Louise joined the “California Seven” artists in 1945 and for the next three years created prints and textile patterns. During WWII, she earned her living as a sketch artist for ship builders in San Francisco Bay, and it was there she met her future husband, Bezalel. “Then, it was very avant-garde to hire women in ship-building,” she once recounted. “We used to take dimensions from engineers and make sketches. It was very trailblazing and exciting, and the ships were constructed very quickly and launched very quickly. Besides the fact that we contributed to the war effort, it was really beautiful art.” The Bohemian society developing in San Francisco at the time included the novelist Henry Miller, who was then married to Louise’s sister, Eve. “There was a group of artists in Big Sur, all of them poor,” according to Bezalel Schatz’s sister, Zohara. “They were a group of Beatniks before the hippy era of the 1960s. There were novelists, poets, and painters there who lived communally under primitive conditions and were close to nature.” Bezalel and Louise were married in 1948 and moved to Israel. There, together with Zohara, they founded the arts and crafts workshop, “Yad,” with the goal of creating and selling alternative art objects that differed in style from those of the Bezalel School of Art. The couple divided its time between the family home in Jerusalem and a residence in Ein Hod designed for them by the architect David Resnik. Despite her connection to the Schatz family and her active involvement in the Israeli art world at the time, Louise guarded her privacy and rarely granted interviews. As Henry Miller wrote, “Her paintings reflect and reveal the extent of her sensitivity, shyness, and gentleness…” Scenes of Israel were a source of inspiration for Louise, and, in addition to her abstract Bauhaus geometric works, she also painted landscapes, flowers, and other elements of the environment in which she worked. Louise worked mainly in water colors but also created collages, book illustrations, and applied art. Among her outstanding works are murals for Zim’s “Shalom” and “Theodore Herzl” ships (together with Bezalel), El Al’s London office, and Jerusalem’s tenth anniversary exhibition, as well as ceramic walls for Jerusalem’s Midreshet Amalia and Beit Ha’am Library. She was awarded the Silver Medal in 1954 at the tenth Triennale in Milan for her copper designs, and in 1952 she received the “Above Competition” prize for her textile designs at the Bezalel National Museum. She was also awarded the Shen Beit Haomanim Prize in 1970 and the Jerusalem Prize for painting in 1973. Louise took part in many art exhibitions in Israel and abroad. Her works are held by the Israel, Tel Aviv, and Haifa Museums, and in private collections in Israel, the U.S., England, Switzerland, France, and Italy. Following her husband’s death in 1978, Louise continued to live with her sister-in-law, Zohara, at the family home in Jerusalem on Schatz Street. Louise died in Jerusalem in 1997. She has been called in the pages of the Jerusalem Post " the greatest Schatz of all" and "Israel's finest watercolorist" Parts of her work summon up affinities with Paul Klee and Julius Bissier and occasionally even Joan Miro. But she never copied any of them. Her work also bears affinities for Lyonel Feininger and Wassily Kandinsky Between 1937 and 1951, Bezalel resided in the U.S. Near the end of WWII, he worked in a California shipyard, and it was there he met his future wife, Louise. He was also introduced to the novelist Henry Miller in California, and their friendship blossomed into a creative collaboration. The artist May Ray recorded his observations about the two, noting that “I have never encountered such smooth cooperation…” Bezalel produced silkscreen prints for Miller’s novel, Into the Night Life, an innovation for both the art and publishing worlds. In Florence, New Mexico, New York, San Francisco, and other locations, Bezalel exhibited his own work and participated in group shows with some of the greatest artists of his era – Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, and Kokoschka. Bezalel and Louise married in 1948 and moved to Israel three years later, taking residence in the Schatz house in Jerusalem. Despite his long absence from Israel and his conceptual conflicts with artists there, Bezalel mounted several exhibitions and represented his native country abroad – in Germany and at Venice’s 1954 Biennale, for example. Together with Louise and his sister, Zohara, he established the arts and crafts workshop, “Yad.” Objects created there today are displayed and sold in a small building on the grounds of the family home on Bezalel Street in Jerusalem. When the Ein Hod artists’ village was founded in 1953, Bezalel and Louise moved to a home designed for them there by Israeli architect David Reznik. The couple melded easily into the village’s Bohemian artistic life, which resembled the lifestyle they had adopted in California.
  • Creator:
    Louise Schatz (1916 - 1997)
  • Creation Year:
    1959
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 6.5 in (16.51 cm)Width: 20.5 in (52.07 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    good. minor wear. please see photos.
  • Gallery Location:
    Surfside, FL
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU38213822722

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MIchail Grobman Gouache and watercolor on paper Hand signed Lower Left and Dated 1964. Described inn Cyrillic Russian verso. Dimensions: L:13.25" W: 11.75". Michail Grobman (Russian: Михаил Гробман, Hebrew: מיכאיל גרובמן‎‎, born 1939) is an artist and a poet working in Israel and Russia. He is father to Hollywood producer Lati Grobman and Israeli architect Yasha Jacob Grobman. Biography 1939 – Born in Moscow. 1960s – Active member of The Second Russian Avant-Garde movement in the Soviet Union. 1967 – Member of Moscow Artists Union. 1971 – Emigrates to Israel and settles in Jerusalem. 1975 – Founded the Leviathan group and art periodical (in Russian). Since 1983, he lives and works mainly in Tel Aviv. Awards In 2001, Grobman was a co-recipient of the Dizengoff Prize for Painting. Solo exhibitions 2007 – Last Skies, Loushy & Peter Art & Projects, Tel Aviv (cat. text: Marc Scheps) 2006 – Creation From Chaos to Cosmos, Bar-David Museum of Fine Art and Judaica, Kibbutz Baram (cat. text: Sorin Heller) 2002 – The Last Sky, installation, Tsveta Zuzoritch pavilion, Belgrad (cat. text: Irina Subotitch) 1999 – Mikhail Grobman: Works 1960–1998, The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg (cat. texts: Evgeniya Petrova, Marc Scheps, Lola Kantor-Kazovsky, Michail German) Michail Grobman was born in Moscow. He grew up writing poetry, essays and literary prose. In the 1960s, he was active in the Second Russian Avant-garde movement in the Soviet Union. In 1971, he immigrated to Israel. In 1975, he established the Leviathan school together with Avraham Ofek and Shmuel Ackerman, seeking to combine symbolism, metaphysics and Judaism in an all-inclusive “national style.” Grobman’s lithograph work employs images and symbols from Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah. His paintings incorporate texts in Russian and Hebrew. In addition to his artistic endeavors, he writes about art and aesthetics. The group combined conceptual art and "land art" with Jewish symbolism. Of the three of them Avraham Ofek had the deepest interest in sculpture and its relationship to religious symbolism and images. In one series of his works Ofek used mirrors to project Hebrew letters, words with religious or cabbalistic significance, and other images onto soil or man-made structures. In his work "Letters of Light" (1979), for example, the letters were projected onto people and fabrics and the soil of the Judean Desert. In another work Ofek screened the words "America", "Africa", and "Green card" on the walls of the Tel Hai courtyard during a symposium on sculpture Part of the generation of emigre Russian artists, many Jewish, that included Yuri Kuper, Komar and Melamid, Eduard Steinberg, Erik Bulatov, Viktor Pivovarov, Vladimir Yankilevsky, Ilya Kabakov and Grisha Bruskin. Date of Birth: 1939, Moscow 1960s Active member of The Second Russian Avant Garde 1967 Member of the Moscow Painters Association 1971 Immigrated to Israel and settled in Jerusalem 1975 Founded the Leviathan group and art periodical (in Russian) Since 1983 Lives and works in Tel Aviv . Selected Solo Exhibitions: 2002 Pavilion Zveta Zuzovich, "The Last Sky", Belgrad (cat: Irena Subotitch) 1999 The State Russian Museum, ST. Petersburg 1998 "Picture = Symbol + Concept", Herzliya Museum of Art, Herzliya 1995 "Password and Image", University Gallery, Haifa University 1990 Tova Osman Gallery, Tel Aviv 1989 "The Beautiful Sixties in Moscow", The Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery, Tel Aviv University (with llya Kabakov; cat. text: Mordechai Omer] Spertus Museum, Chicago Beit Rami and Uri Nechushtan, Ashdot Yaacov (leaflet) 1972 Nora Gallery, Jerusalem 1973 - Negev Museum, Beer Sheva 1971 Tel Aviv Museum of Art (cat. text: Haim Gamzu) 1966 Mos-lng-Projekt, Moscow 1965 Artist's House, Moscow Energy Institute, Moscow History Institute, Moscow Usti-nad-Orlicy Theatre,Czechoslovakia (leaflet text: Dushan Konetchni) 1959 Mukhina Art Institute, Leningrad . Selected Group Exhibitions: 2003 "Yes do yourself...", Regeneration of Judaism in Israeli art, Zman Omanut Tel Aviv (cat: Gideon Ofrat) 1999 "Russian post-war avantgarde", The Trajsman Collection in the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg Tretjakov National Gallery, Moscow (cat. text: Yevgenij Barabanov, John Bolt...
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Michail Gorbman, Russian Born 1939. Watercolor on Green Paper, Black Fish with Yellow Dots. Hand signed Upper Left, Dated 1964. Signed verso and Described. Dimensions: 10 X 7.25 inches \ Michail Grobman (Russian: Михаил Гробман, Hebrew: מיכאיל גרובמן‎‎, born 1939) is an artist and a poet working in Israel and Russia. He is father to Hollywood producer Lati Grobman and Israeli architect Yasha Jacob Grobman. Biography 1939 – Born in Moscow. 1960s – Active member of The Second Russian Avant-Garde movement in the Soviet Union. 1967 – Member of Moscow Artists Union. 1971 – Emigrates to Israel and settles in Jerusalem. 1975 – Founded the Leviathan group and art periodical (in Russian). Since 1983, he lives and works mainly in Tel Aviv. Awards In 2001, Grobman was a co-recipient of the Dizengoff Prize for Painting. Solo exhibitions 2007 – Last Skies, Loushy & Peter Art & Projects, Tel Aviv (cat. text: Marc Scheps) 2006 – Creation From Chaos to Cosmos, Bar-David Museum of Fine Art and Judaica, Kibbutz Baram (cat. text: Sorin Heller) 2002 – The Last Sky, installation, Tsveta Zuzoritch pavilion, Belgrad (cat. text: Irina Subotitch) 1999 – Mikhail Grobman: Works 1960–1998, The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg (cat. texts: Evgenija Petrova, Marc Scheps, Lola Kantor-Kazovsky, Michail German) Michail Grobman was born in Moscow. He grew up writing poetry, essays and literary prose. In the 1960s, he was active in the Second Russian Avant-garde movement in the Soviet Union. In 1971, he immigrated to Israel. In 1975, he established the Leviathan school together with Avraham Ofek and Shmuel Ackerman, seeking to combine symbolism, metaphysics and Judaism in an all-inclusive “national style.” Grobman’s lithograph work employs images and symbols from Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah. His paintings incorporate texts in Russian and Hebrew. In addition to his artistic endeavors, he writes about art and aesthetics. The group combined conceptual art and "land art" with Jewish symbolism. Of the three of them Avraham Ofek had the deepest interest in sculpture and its relationship to religious symbolism and images. In one series of his works Ofek used mirrors to project Hebrew letters, words with religious or cabbalistic significance, and other images onto soil or man-made structures. In his work "Letters of Light" (1979), for example, the letters were projected onto people and fabrics and the soil of the Judean Desert. In another work Ofek screened the words "America", "Africa", and "Green card" on the walls of the Tel Hai courtyard during a symposium on sculpture Part of the generation of emigre Russian artists, many Jewish, that included Yuri Kuper, Komar and Melamid, Eduard Steinberg, Erik Bulatov, Viktor Pivovarov, Vladimir Yankilevsky, Ilya Kabakov and Grisha Bruskin. Date of Birth: 1939, Moscow 1960s Active member of The Second Russian Avant Garde 1967 Member of the Moscow Painters Association 1971 Immigrated to Israel and settled in Jerusalem 1975 Founded the Leviathan group and art periodical (in Russian) Since 1983 Lives and works in Tel Aviv . Selected Solo Exhibitions: 2002 Pavilion Zveta Zuzovich, "The Last Sky", Belgrad (cat: Irena Subotitch) 1999 The State Russian Museum, ST. Petersburg 1998 "Picture = Symbol + Concept", Herzliya Museum of Art, Herzliya 1995 "Password and Image", University Gallery, Haifa University 1990 Tova Osman Gallery, Tel Aviv 1989 "The Beautiful Sixties in Moscow", The Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery, Tel Aviv University (with llya Kabakov; cat. text: Mordechai Omer] Spertus Museum, Chicago Beit Rami and Uri Nechushtan, Ashdot Yaacov (leaflet) 1972 Nora Gallery, Jerusalem 1973 - Negev Museum, Beer Sheva 1971 Tel Aviv Museum of Art (cat. text: Haim Gamzu) 1966 Mos-lng-Projekt, Moscow 1965 Artist's House, Moscow Energy Institute, Moscow History Institute, Moscow Usti-nad-Orlicy Theatre,Czechoslovakia (leaflet text: Dushan Konetchni) 1959 Mukhina Art Institute, Leningrad . Selected Group Exhibitions: 2003 "Yes do yourself...", Regeneration of Judaism in Israeli art, Zman Omanut Tel Aviv (cat: Gideon Ofrat) 1999 "Russian post-war avantgarde", The Trajsman Collection in the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg Tretjakov National Gallery, Moscow (cat. text: Yevgenij Barabanov, John...
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