Artist Russian émigré léon Zack for the first time shown in Russia
"Russian Parisian" Leon — Leo V. — Zack (1892-1980) is well known in France: on it were written the monograph, the artist's paintings are kept in the Paris Museum of modern art, in the London Tate gallery, in the Royal Museum of Brussels and other famous collections. In modern Russia Zack was not present even once.
Diverse talents of Leon Zack as a decorator, designer, book Illustrator, sculptor, engraver, ceramist, poet manifested itself in Russia, but at full strength is revealed in emigration after 1920. Prior to that, Zach has lived and worked in Moscow, Petrograd. Then in Florence, Berlin, Paris and other French cities. Similar way many of his contemporaries — artists and poets of the Silver age.
Zack was born into a merchant Jewish family, the grandfather of the artist was one of the founders of the first Moscow synagogue. Leon graduated from the Romano-германское Department of historical-филологического faculty of the Moscow University, to paint and exhibit began in school years. In 1910-х he worked together with M. Larionov and N. Goncharova participated in exhibitions "Moscow Association of artists", exhibited with world of art, made drawings for the magazine "Golden fleece". As a poet and literary theorist, he was the father-основателем and the main ideologist of the avant-garde Association "Mezzanine of poetry" and for several years published a namesake almanac.
In 1920, Zach with his wife through the Crimea, sailed to Constantinople, thence — to Florence, then — in Berlin. In 1920-е worked in Berlin for the "Russian romantic theatre," BG Romanov. That is what helped him start his career in the West artist: the ballet scenery and costumes Russian émigré praised in the German press, and he received a contract with the Berlin gallery Flechteim, which at the time was holding the branches in Cologne, düsseldorf, Frankfurt and exhibited Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris, A. Derain.
Only in 1923, the artist found himself in Paris — city, where he has sought all these years. Who went from Soviet Russia to the Jew without special connections to obtain a visa for France at the time was not very easy. In Paris, Zack continued his career as a ballet set designer, working for the company in Nemchinovka in the théâtre des Champs-elysées and for several other productions.
And yet in the pre-1930-е years, Zack and his family, on memoirs of the daughter, was constantly on the verge of poverty deaf. The artist had to take on the most different orders: he made sketches for silk scarves, decorative blown glass figurines. But never stopped painting. In 1920-х wrote concise, executed in a monochrome palette things: cityscapes, portraits, genre scenes.
In the postwar years, Leon Zack turned to the genre of lyrical abstraction, which remained faithful until the end of his life. He did not return to figurative painting. In one of his texts Zach very well expressed the essence of the occurred changes: "I've never been an artist-реалистом. Form — or other person existing in nature — were always my reasons for creating on the canvas more or less of the poetic atmosphere, the atmosphere that was consistent with my deeper self. I went to the way of expression more and more concise, when the visual object served as a stimulus, causing a storm on the canvas of rhythms and colors. Finally, I realized that remaining in my pictures are the last traces of the outside world were not needed and instead of labeling, they can interfere with this designation. Thus, non-figurative art that existed before me, born for me and in me as the ripened fruit of all my previous experience of the artist... the Picture has ceased to be a mirror image of the person she aspires to be a person. The face of a man (at least in my view) is the expression of mystery and life that occurs within man, and over him".
In the mid 1950-х to Leon Zach comes calling. He appeared loyal fans, collectors and gallery owners. Beginning with 60-х, the exhibitions follow one another, both in France and abroad, for half a century life in Europe in the artist more than fifty exhibitions. The master works tirelessly. He opens his workshop, engaged in sculpture, stone carving, making stained glass Windows for cathedrals, illustrated books. The largest that is held in life of Zack exhibitions was a large retrospective at the Museum of modern art city of Paris (1977).
From a young age and until his death Zack wrote poems and texts. In 1970 under the pseudonym "M. Russian ones", he released in the Munich collection of selected poems "the Morning inside (1913-1970)". The manuscript of the artist are kept in the Library of the philological faculty of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
At the first exhibition of Leon Zack in Moscow the Central part of the exhibition are nine picturesque abstractions. It is non-objective works, original and mysterious, the artist became known in Europe. Also, the exhibition presents portraits and genre composition 1930-х, lithographs and book illustration. The exhibition of archival photos.
Presented at the exhibition canvases and the books come from five Moscow private collections. Of the fifteen canvases on sale only six, and the prices of these works are assigned in the range of $15,000 to $25 000.
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