Alexander Raymond Katz

Chicago Modernist Gouache Painting Shabbat Hebrew Calligraphy WPA Artist Judaica

Jean David was a painter and designer, known for his contributions to the Romanian avant-garde and to the early modernist art of Israel (then recently founded). He was the first Israeli artist to be inducted into the illustrious Alliance Graphique Nationale in 1954. He had studied between 1927 and 1937 at various art academies in Paris. In 1929 he participated for the first time at a collective exhibition in Bucharest and in 1933 he had his first personal exhibition (in the same city). In the early '30s he was a member of the Surrealist group "unu" (meaning "one"). In 1942, he left Romania in a boat with 12 other Jews, including Theodor Brauner, the brother of Victor Brauner. After being captured by British authorities in Cyprus, he managed to reach Palestine in 1944. In 1949 he went to live in Jerusalem, where he was active in developing ceramic arts, sculpture works in copper, and artistic tapestry wall hangings under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Together with Marcel Janco, he founded in Israel the artist village known as Ein Hod. He also gained much reputation as a muralist and graphic and poster designer, having designed numerous posters and other works for the El Al air company, Maccabiah games, Zim shipping and The Israel tourist industry. David’s primary importance was in the design of posters. He used a wildly colorful decorative style in his art, which combined illustration, caricature, and national figures. In addition he designed wall hangings for “Maskit,” and also worked in the decoration of public buildings. His paintings had elements of Surrealism and included images from nature and landscapes. Similar in style to David Klein and the Polish Cyrk posters. Forms From Israel, Mounting Exhibition, USA, 1958 Artists: El Hanani (Sapozhnikow), Arie Azaz, Nehemiah Boris Carmi, Hanna Harag Zunz, David, Jean David Gumbel, Keiner Forcheimer, Julia Mansfeld, Al Merom, Peter Mayer, Jean Palombo...

Edward Avedisian ( 1936-2007 ) Gouache or oil on paper, 3 guys around a car, hand signed in paint lower left, Measures 30"x 22.5" Edward Avedisian (June 15, 1936, Lowell, Massachusetts – August 17, 2007, Philmont, New York) was an American abstract painter who came into prominence during the 1960s. His work was initially associated with Color field painting and in the late 1960s with Lyrical Abstraction and Abstract Expressionism. He studied art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. By the late 1950s he moved to New York City. Between 1958 and 1963 Avedisian had six solo shows in New York. In 1958 he initially showed at the Hansa Gallery, then he had three shows at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery and in 1962 and 1963 at the Robert Elkon Gallery. He continued to show at the Robert Elkon Gallery almost every year until 1975. During the 1960s his work was broadly visible in the contemporary art world. He joined the dynamic art scene in Greenwich Village, frequenting the Cedar Tavern on Tenth Street, associating with the critic Clement Greenberg, and joining a new generation of abstract artists, such as Darby Bannard, Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, and Larry Poons. Avedisian was among the leading figures to emerge in the New York art world during the 1960s. An artist who mixed the hot colors of Pop Art with the cool, more analytical qualities of Color Field painting, he was instrumental in the exploration of new abstract methods to examine the primacy of optical experience. One of his paintings was appeared on the cover of Artforum, in 1969, his work was included in the 1965 Op Art The Responsive Eye exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art and in four annuals at the Whitney Museum of American Art. His paintings were widely sought after by collectors and acquired by major museums in New York and elsewhere. He has been exhibited in prominent galleries, such as the Anita Shapolsky Gallery and the Berry Campbell Gallery in New York City. Edward Avedisian was known for his brightly colored, boldly composed canvases that combined Minimalism's rigor, Pop art exuberance and the saturated tones of Color Field painting. Roberta Smith of the NYT writes of Avedesian: "Edward Avedisian helped establish the hotly colored, but emotionally cool, abstract painting that succeeded Abstract Expressionism in the early 1960s. This young luminary harnessed elements of minimalism, pop, and color field painting to create prominent works of epic proportions that energized the New York art scene of the time." In 1996 Avedisian showed his paintings from the 1960s at the Mitchell Algus Gallery, then in SoHo. His last show, dominated by recent landscapes, was in 2003 at the Algus gallery, now in Chelsea. Selected Exhibitions: Op Art: The Responsive Eye, at the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum’s Young America 1965 Expo 67, held in Montreal, Canada. Six Painters (along with Darby Bannard, Dan Christensen, Ron Davis...