GLUCKMAN (Glickman) Grigory Efimovich

December 25, 1898 (Vitebsk province) — 1973

Painter, graphic artist

Grigory Gluckman studied in the First State Free Art Studios in 1917–1920. In 1922 he emigrated, lived in Berlin, in 1923–1924 — in Florence, since 1924 — in Paris.

In 1922 Gluckman joined art society Vereteno (“Spindle”).

In 1920s he worked in book graphic art. He designed books Poems about Russia by A. Bely (1922), Florentine Nights by H. Heine, Signor Formica by E. T. Hoffman, Manon Lescaut by A. F. Prévost and many others.

In 1930s Gluckman was engaged in easel painting. He painted portraits, academy figures, scenes, landscapes. He exposed his works at many group exhibitions, in particular the Autumn Salon and Salon Tuileries, and exhibitions of the National Society of Fine Arts. Personal exhibitions of the artist were held in Paris galleries Drouet (1924), De Frennait (1929), K. Weil (1930), Bourget (1932, 1934), Charpentier (1934), and Allard (1937). In 1937 Gluckman was awarded gold medal at the International Exhibition in Paris.

In Paris Gluckman became friends with world-known violinist Jascha Heifetz, who later collected the largest collection of Gluckman’s paintings.

At the beginning of the World War II, Gluckman moved to the USA, lived in Los Angeles and in New York. In 1940–1957 he regularly held personal exhibitions. In 1945 he was awarded the Watson F. Blair Prize at Chicago Art Institute. Retrospective exhibitions of Gluckman’s works were held in 1955 in the gallery Drain-David in Paris and in 1967–1968 — in New York.

Grigory Gluckman was significant artist, who combined traditions of Russian art and European schools of painting, in particular he painted in color manner of Old Venetian masters and French artists of the second half of the 17th century — the beginning of the 18th century, such as J.-A. Watteau, N. Lancret, and J.-B. Pater. As the Old Masters, Gluckman painted on wood; he applied one paint coat over another in order lower coats were seen through higher ones. Due to this manner of painting, his works had bright intensity and wide color gamma. This method was very laborious, because every paint coat had to be dry before applying of another one in order painter could continue his work on the painting.

Works by Grigory Gluckman are both in private collections and in collections of many European and American museums, including Luxembourg Museum and the Petit Palais Museum in Paris.