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Lot Essay
Melodies of Spring belongs to the New Horizons period of Castel oeuvre painted in the 1950s. Castel's work executed after 1948 consists mainly of abstract paintings, some relate to Hebrew letters of ancient times. This interest develops further in his later well-known basalts works (see lots 60 and 65). Some of the paintings of the period relate to musical passages, as the present lot, several have more profound musical titles such as Hallelujah.
In his 1955 exhibition at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Castel showed mainly abstract colourful canvases described by the Museum Director Eugene Kolb: "A flight into a world of imagination. A pilgrimage to the forgotten sources of oriental art... he succeeded in expressing a magic atmosphere full of rich colours and rhythm." (E. Kolb in: Moshe Castel Paintings 1950-1955, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, January 1955).
Asher Nahor of Yediot Aharonot reviewed Castel's abstract work of the 1950s: " Castel describes his work as a 'rhythm of colours and shapes in space'. The shapes are cut out of Hebrew letters and decorative eastern motifs. The colours are superb and delightful. One thing is beyond doubt - this is not a search of abstraction devoid of content, these are the stylized signs and decorations imbued with Eastern influence." (G. Ballas, "Ofakim Hadashim" New Horizons - Modernist Israeli Artists 1948-1963, Tel Aviv, 1979, p. 150).
In his 1955 exhibition at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Castel showed mainly abstract colourful canvases described by the Museum Director Eugene Kolb: "A flight into a world of imagination. A pilgrimage to the forgotten sources of oriental art... he succeeded in expressing a magic atmosphere full of rich colours and rhythm." (E. Kolb in: Moshe Castel Paintings 1950-1955, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, January 1955).
Asher Nahor of Yediot Aharonot reviewed Castel's abstract work of the 1950s: " Castel describes his work as a 'rhythm of colours and shapes in space'. The shapes are cut out of Hebrew letters and decorative eastern motifs. The colours are superb and delightful. One thing is beyond doubt - this is not a search of abstraction devoid of content, these are the stylized signs and decorations imbued with Eastern influence." (G. Ballas, "Ofakim Hadashim" New Horizons - Modernist Israeli Artists 1948-1963, Tel Aviv, 1979, p. 150).