The Week in Art Circles
Written By: Mary L Alexander
We reproduce the portraits of Miss Betty Ann and Barbara Davis by Bezalel Schatz, who is the latest member of our art colony. Mr. Schatz has taken a studio in the studio building on Third Street, where so many of our artists have their studios.
It was with a great deal of interest that I climbed those famous stairs to his studio, for Mr. Schatz is what the layman calls a real advanced artist.
The portraits were the first things I saw when entering. The backgrounds were rather somber in comparison to the costumes of the girls; one was in grayish pink, the other in gray, with a fine play running through it. The flowers make a strong element in the decorative charm of the portraits. The whole painting is done in tempera except the faces of the girls and their hands.
This is a most unusual proceeding and it must be difficult indeed to bring the two methods into such close harmony. The use of the colored crayon in the faces of his young sitters aids the artist in his drawing, which is quite beautiful. Mr. Schatz is a flexible draughtsman, as can be seen in the portraits of the children of Dr. and Mrs. H. B. Weis. These the artist has done in the pure crayon technique and they are fine both in expression and likeness.
In the little display of the artist’s work in his studio, we see him emerge from impressionism to a full-fledged expressionist with a color sense that might be compared to Soutine or even Rouault’s mighty organ colors. It is Soutine, the Frenchman, that he most closely resembles; he says, though, that Bonnard, the veteran impressionist who now is in the group that is called the School of Paris, is the one who has influenced him the most, for he taught him the great beauty of color that can be obtained by superimposing one over another. By this method he gets that full, rich, spicy, and brilliant color which is so typical of his work. Today he works in moments of great inspirational excitement and his canvasses show the fury of this excitement; the colors and the forms are fluid and molten and flare and flame; they are immensely alive and active.
Bezalel Schatz was the son of Professor Boris Schatz of Jerusalem—that ancient town in the Holy Land which still retains its charm of centuries long passed. He traveled everywhere in Europe during the lifetime of his father, and finally settled in Paris where he knew Bonnard, Picasso, and many other artists of Paris during his student days. Success finally came to him before he left, but to the artist that is very little, for now he is always open to impressions, always growing. He knows he does not rank among the great masters, but believes sincerely in his own talent and the direction it has taken.
The Week in Art Circles
Written By: Mary L Alexander
We reproduce the portraits of Miss Betty Ann and Barbara Davis by Bezalel Schatz, who is the latest member of our art colony. Mr. Schatz has taken a studio in the studio building on Third Street, where so many of our artists have their studios.
It was with a great deal of interest that I climbed those famous stairs to his studio, for Mr. Schatz is what the layman calls a real advanced artist.
The portraits were the first things I saw when entering. The backgrounds were rather somber in comparison to the costumes of the girls; one was in grayish pink, the other in gray, with a fine play running through it. The flowers make a strong element in the decorative charm of the portraits. The whole painting is done in tempera except the faces of the girls and their hands.
This is a most unusual proceeding and it must be difficult indeed to bring the two methods into such close harmony. The use of the colored crayon in the faces of his young sitters aids the artist in his drawing, which is quite beautiful. Mr. Schatz is a flexible draughtsman, as can be seen in the portraits of the children of Dr. and Mrs. H. B. Weis. These the artist has done in the pure crayon technique and they are fine both in expression and likeness.
In the little display of the artist’s work in his studio, we see him emerge from impressionism to a full-fledged expressionist with a color sense that might be compared to Soutine or even Rouault’s mighty organ colors. It is Soutine, the Frenchman, that he most closely resembles; he says, though, that Bonnard, the veteran impressionist who now is in the group that is called the School of Paris, is the one who has influenced him the most, for he taught him the great beauty of color that can be obtained by superimposing one over another. By this method he gets that full, rich, spicy, and brilliant color which is so typical of his work. Today he works in moments of great inspirational excitement and his canvasses show the fury of this excitement; the colors and the forms are fluid and molten and flare and flame; they are immensely alive and active.
Bezalel Schatz was the son of Professor Boris Schatz of Jerusalem—that ancient town in the Holy Land which still retains its charm of centuries long passed. He traveled everywhere in Europe during the lifetime of his father, and finally settled in Paris where he knew Bonnard, Picasso, and many other artists of Paris during his student days. Success finally came to him before he left, but to the artist that is very little, for now he is always open to impressions, always growing. He knows he does not rank among the great masters, but believes sincerely in his own talent and the direction it has taken.