Louise Schatz Enchants
Written By: Sarah Wilkinson
It is not often that one has an opportunity to see an exhibition that gives such pure pleasure to the eye as the collection of works by Louise Schatz of Jerusalem, now on view at the Gordon Gallery (till Oct. 19). These small paintings, some not much bigger than miniatures, are whollly delightful, so fine and sure is the artist’s sense of colour, so skilfully does she combine her shapes. There is also much refinement in the way she handles her medium, be it watercolour on paper, casein on material, or collage composed of scraps of tinsel, net and thread. A quiet magic pervades almost every creation.
In the years that have elapsed since Louise Schatz held a solo exhibition in Tel Aviv (1953, at the Tel Aviv Museum) she has turned from a personal depiction of specific scenes to a pure abstraction in which form and colour speak for themselves; in her case a natural transition as the abstract elements were always very important in her work. In the present show there are only two paintings, “Tiberias” and “Spring in Bruges” in which characteristic aspects of a particular place are indicated, the latter with its subtle progressions of colour being especially successful. A favourite form is the rectangular with which she often juggles in such a Way as to represent movement as in “Transparent Forms” where one form is imposed on another, colour emphasising depth. She also uses tiny rectangular shapes in asomewhat Mondrian-like manner, but not so mathematically, producing patterns full of joie de vivre.
Recently she has become much interested in obtaining variety of textural effects, beautifully achieved in the paintings on cloth where she contrasts deeply stained areas with others where the grainlike quality of the weave shows through and others where the impasto is heavy. In works in this manner such as “Rain Dance” and “Gala for a Lonely Child” not only are pattern and surface interesting but the artist has been able to evoke an atmosphere which ׳ makes the viewer partake of her personal vision.
In the years that have elapsed since Louise Schatz held a solo exhibition in Tel Aviv (1953, at the Tel Aviv Museum) she has turned from a personal depiction of specific scenes to a pure abstraction in which form and color speak for themselves; in her case a natural transition as the abstract elements were always very important in her work. In the present show there are only two paintings, "Tiberius" and "Spring in Bruges" in which characteristic aspects of a particular place are indicated, the latter with its subtle progressions of color being especially successful. A favorite form is the rectangular with which she often juggles in such a way as to represent movement as in "Transparent Forms" where one form is imposed on another, color emphasizing depth. She also uses tiny rectangular shapes in a somewhat Mondrian like manner, but not so mathematically, producing patterns full of "joie de vivre".
Recently she has become much interested in obtaining variety of textural effects, beautifully achieved in the paintings on cloth where she contrasts deeply stained areas with others where the grain like quality of the weave shows thorough and others where the impasto is heavy. In works in this manner such as "Rain Dance" and "Gala for a Lonely Child not only are pattern and surface interesting but the artist has been able to evoke an atmosphere which makes the viewer partake of her personal vision.
Louise Schatz is married to the Jerusalem painter Bezalel Schatz and has been living in Israel since 1951. She has taken part in many Israeli exhibitions abroad, was a founder member of the "Yaad' crafts workshop and has executed murals 'for Zim ships and the El AL office in. London.
Louise Schatz Enchants
Written By: Sarah Wilkinson
It is not often that one has an opportunity to see an exhibition that gives such pure pleasure to the eye as the collection of works by Louise Schatz of Jerusalem, now on view at the Gordon Gallery (till Oct. 19). These small paintings, some not much bigger than miniatures, are whollly delightful, so fine and sure is the artist’s sense of colour, so skilfully does she combine her shapes. There is also much refinement in the way she handles her medium, be it watercolour on paper, casein on material, or collage composed of scraps of tinsel, net and thread. A quiet magic pervades almost every creation.
In the years that have elapsed since Louise Schatz held a solo exhibition in Tel Aviv (1953, at the Tel Aviv Museum) she has turned from a personal depiction of specific scenes to a pure abstraction in which form and colour speak for themselves; in her case a natural transition as the abstract elements were always very important in her work. In the present show there are only two paintings, “Tiberias” and “Spring in Bruges” in which characteristic aspects of a particular place are indicated, the latter with its subtle progressions of colour being especially successful. A favourite form is the rectangular with which she often juggles in such a Way as to represent movement as in “Transparent Forms” where one form is imposed on another, colour emphasising depth. She also uses tiny rectangular shapes in asomewhat Mondrian-like manner, but not so mathematically, producing patterns full of joie de vivre.
Recently she has become much interested in obtaining variety of textural effects, beautifully achieved in the paintings on cloth where she contrasts deeply stained areas with others where the grainlike quality of the weave shows through and others where the impasto is heavy. In works in this manner such as “Rain Dance” and “Gala for a Lonely Child” not only are pattern and surface interesting but the artist has been able to evoke an atmosphere which ׳ makes the viewer partake of her personal vision.
In the years that have elapsed since Louise Schatz held a solo exhibition in Tel Aviv (1953, at the Tel Aviv Museum) she has turned from a personal depiction of specific scenes to a pure abstraction in which form and color speak for themselves; in her case a natural transition as the abstract elements were always very important in her work. In the present show there are only two paintings, "Tiberius" and "Spring in Bruges" in which characteristic aspects of a particular place are indicated, the latter with its subtle progressions of color being especially successful. A favorite form is the rectangular with which she often juggles in such a way as to represent movement as in "Transparent Forms" where one form is imposed on another, color emphasizing depth. She also uses tiny rectangular shapes in a somewhat Mondrian like manner, but not so mathematically, producing patterns full of "joie de vivre".
Recently she has become much interested in obtaining variety of textural effects, beautifully achieved in the paintings on cloth where she contrasts deeply stained areas with others where the grain like quality of the weave shows thorough and others where the impasto is heavy. In works in this manner such as "Rain Dance" and "Gala for a Lonely Child not only are pattern and surface interesting but the artist has been able to evoke an atmosphere which makes the viewer partake of her personal vision.
Louise Schatz is married to the Jerusalem painter Bezalel Schatz and has been living in Israel since 1951. She has taken part in many Israeli exhibitions abroad, was a founder member of the "Yaad' crafts workshop and has executed murals 'for Zim ships and the El AL office in. London.