Emmanuel Mané-Katz
Bowl of Irises
1935

About the Item

Bowl of Irises, 1935, by Emmanuel Mané-Katz (1894-1962) Oil on canvas 24 x 20 inches unframed(60.96 x 50.8 cm) 33 ½ x 29 ½ inches framed (85.09 x 74.93 cm) Signed on bottom right Description: 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. In this still-life, Mané-Katz depicts a colorful vase full of irises on a table. The Irises take up the majority of the composition, creating a cacophony of bright and dark green, yellow, lilac, violet, indigo, blue and purple. The vase, more defined in its shape, is a deep glossy blue with fiery flowers accentuated by green and orange highlights. It sits on a golden table, foregrounding a wall of pale blue striations with what appears as a few streaks of sunlight. This painting is a brilliant example of the experimental and vivid painting style Katz took up in the latter part of his life. Fauvist in nature, the techniques he implemented are akin to those of his friends Chaim Soutine and Pablo Picasso, and are also reminiscent more broadly of Henri Matisse.

Creator:

Emmanuel Mané-Katz (1894 - 1962, Jewish, Ukrainian)

Creation Year:

1935

Dimensions:

Height: 24 in (60.96 cm)Width: 20 in (50.8 cm)

Medium:

Oil

Movement & Style:

Fauvist

Period:

20th Century