42.00 x 54.90 cm - oil, canvas
Signed l.d.: Landau
On the back, on the left slat of the frame, stamp of the Geneva Depot of Painting Instruments, next to it a stamp with a number referring to the size of the canvas: 10P; also inventory stickers.
- The Collection of Urszula and Piotr Hofman, edited by Urszula Hofman, Warsaw 2013, p. 51;
- Collection of Ursula and Piotr Hofman, edited by Urszula Hofman, Warsaw 2018, p. 67.
Under items 52 to 68, we present to you carefully selected works of artists from the École de Paris circle, which are part of the collection of Ursula and Piotr Hofman. The family collection is subject to constant development, expansion and reconstruction aimed at seeking new directions. It is the result of an evolving way of perceiving, understanding and learning about art.
Ursula and Piotr Hofman's collection grows out of their fascination with the paintings of Polish-Jewish artists associated with the pre-war creative community of Paris. It was the activities of the Parisian artistic émigrés - centered around Montparnasse and co-creating one of the most important phenomena in the art of the first half of the 20th century - that became the foundation of their collection.
The first painting purchased, which gave the impetus and started the adventure and passion of interacting with art, was one of Simon Mondzain's canvases. A painter who combines the geometrizing construction of form with the sensibility of Krakow modernism. His still lifes, landscapes and portraits show a fascination with Cézanne and the tradition of French Post-Impressionism. Mondzain still holds a prominent place in the entire collection of works by artists such as Eugeniusz Eibisch, Rajmund Kanelba, Henryk Epstein, Henryk Hayden, Maurice Blond, Dora Kucembianka, Alexander Blonder, Henryk Berlewi, Zdzislaw Cyankiewicz, Zygmunt Landau, Jean Peské and Joachim Weingart, presented next.
Of interest are two canvases by Dora Kucembianka, an artist who for many years remained in the shadows and rarely appeared on the auction market. Her paintings show inspiration from Post-Impressionism, Colorism and an interest in a synthetic approach to form. She painted primarily portraits, still lifes and landscapes - subjects characteristic of École de Paris artists - focusing on compositional harmony and subtle color relationships. Her paintings are characterized by balanced construction, softness of modeling and moodiness, which gives the representations a lyrical character. Today we have the opportunity to present her work to a wider audience and rediscover the silhouette of this interesting painter.
All the presented canvases from the collection of Ursula and Piotr Hofman, carefully selected artistically and historically, become an opportunity to spread knowledge of the artistic milieu that made Paris the world capital of the avant-garde in the early 20th century. They develop a sensitivity to the paintings of the École de Paris, which shaped the modern view of color, form and emotion in art.
Each of the paintings on offer is not only an artistic work, but also a testimony to an extraordinary time and place where diverse cultures, ideas and creative personalities met. Mr. and Mrs. Hofman invite you to co-create this history and join in the mission to keep alive the memory of the unique phenomenon that was École de Paris painting.
Zygmunt Landau began studying painting in Lodz, probably in the studio of J.Kacenbogen. Since 1919, he stayed in Paris. Associated with the circle of École de Paris artists, he was friends with A.Modigliani and M.Kisling. After the war he also stayed in Nice and Saint-Tropez. In 1921 he presented his paintings for the first time at exhibitions of Jewish painters in Warsaw and Lodz. Later he exhibited, including at the Paris Salon of Independents, the Autumn Salon. He painted landscapes, in an earlier period betraying a clear fascination with the art of Cezanne, and also created figural compositions, still lifes, flowers and portraits often inspired by the work of Modigliani and Kisling.
