Mane Katz

1929 Hasidic Shtetl Boy Watercolor Ink and Gouache by Mane Katz

1929

Emmanuel Mané-Katz was a prominent modernist in Paris at the beginning of the twentieth century. He studied at the Beaux Arts Academy in Kyiv, Ukraine. After his extensive travels through Europe (catalyzed by World War I), Mané-Katz eventually settled in Paris, where he befriended Pablo Picasso and other fellow modernists. Many of Mané-Katz’s paintings have deep religious significance and origins, often picturing rabbis, Jewish students, and other Hassidic personas. Such paintings of Jewish folklore are often compared to Marc Chagall’s religiously-influenced art practice. He continued his travels to places like Israel, Palestine, Brazil, and Japan throughout the rest of his life, maintaining adherence to religious themes and portraiture in his art. The Mané-Katz Museum is located on Mt. Carmel in Haifa, Israel, and his work is part of the permanent collections of the Tate, the MOMA, and the Museum of Art at Ein Harod in Israel. After his death, Mané-Katz donated much of his art to Haifa, Israel, where his home was. His participation in the School of Paris alongside modernists like Picasso, Chagall, and Soutine solidified him as an influential modernist painter in the early twentieth century.