Théo Tobiasse

"Maternity" Poster, 1979

1979

Born in Palestine in 1927 and brought to Paris as a child, Theo Tobiasse created his earliest drawings before World War II. After the war, having spent the crucial years of his youth hiding from the Nazis in a Paris apartment, he became a successful commercial designer until 1961, when he decided to devote his full attention to painting. Tobiasse's style of painting is highly sophisticated. His technique is a painterly blend of surrealism, expressionism, and modern primitivism. His themes are literary, often biblical, and at times, erotic. His paintings seem to transcend history - fusing dreams, mythologies, biblical stories and his own past - into rich metaphors for the world of the present. An internationally acclaimed artist, Tobiasse's works are included in numerous private, corporate and museum collections worldwide.