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Lot Essay
“Untitled” was painted in 1960, when Zaritsky was back in Israel, following a sojourn in Europe. In 1954 Zaritsky went to Paris and in 1955 to Amsterdam where he held a one man show at the Stedelijk Museum. Zaritsky was quoted “I felt the urge to travel and study the painting of Europe and meet colleagues” (M. Omer, Zaritsky, Tel Aviv, 1987, p. 160).
Zaritsky, already a prominent artist in Israel in the 1920s and 1930s, was one of the founding members in 1948 of the Modernist movement New Horizons. The members of this group strove to create progressive international art in Israel. They tried to break away from earlier attractions to sentimental and local subjects and most of them turned to a non-representational language.
In an interview given in 1956 Zaritsky said: “The non-objective painters are more evident worldwide. These artists do not emphasise knowingly and internationally their roots and homeland landscape and being… an Israeli artist will express his homeland anyhow. He must see himself as part of the international artistic community... contemporary art cannot disengage itself from contemporary philosophy. The human thought is abstract and raises painting to abstract artistic expression” (G. Ballas, New Horizons Modernist Israeli Artists 1948-1963, Tel Aviv, 1980, p.58).
While his earlier work was comprised mainly of delicate watercolours depicting local landscapes (see lot 102). Post 1948 he turned to create larger abstract canvases in harmonious colour compositions, relating to his daily life, travels, landscapes and more.
Zaritsky, already a prominent artist in Israel in the 1920s and 1930s, was one of the founding members in 1948 of the Modernist movement New Horizons. The members of this group strove to create progressive international art in Israel. They tried to break away from earlier attractions to sentimental and local subjects and most of them turned to a non-representational language.
In an interview given in 1956 Zaritsky said: “The non-objective painters are more evident worldwide. These artists do not emphasise knowingly and internationally their roots and homeland landscape and being… an Israeli artist will express his homeland anyhow. He must see himself as part of the international artistic community... contemporary art cannot disengage itself from contemporary philosophy. The human thought is abstract and raises painting to abstract artistic expression” (G. Ballas, New Horizons Modernist Israeli Artists 1948-1963, Tel Aviv, 1980, p.58).
While his earlier work was comprised mainly of delicate watercolours depicting local landscapes (see lot 102). Post 1948 he turned to create larger abstract canvases in harmonious colour compositions, relating to his daily life, travels, landscapes and more.