Auction 168 Part 1
Israeli & International Art
Jan 20, 2018
Kikar de Shalit, Herzeliya Pituah, Israel
Terms of sale
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The auction has ended
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LOT 69:
Yosl Bergner
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Sold for: $19,000
Start price:
$
9,000
Estimated price:
$12,000 - $18,000
Buyer's Premium: 15%
VAT: 17% On commission only
Users from foreign countries may be exempted from tax payments, according to the relevant tax regulations
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1920 - 2017
Bella,
Oil on canvas, 60X73 cm.
Signed. Titled on the reverse.
Provenance: Firon Collection.
The fate of children in Yosl Bergner paintings.
Since his painting ”Death in the Family” from 1956, portraying faces of a sad family, the image of the mother holding her dead son returns.
As too in the painting ”Saints” from 1961. This Jewish ’Pieta’ by Bergner – death of a son – expresses a deep emotion of his own dead childhood, in Warsaw, from which he, together with his sister (and parents) were expelled in 1937 and sent alone to Melbourne Australia.
From thereon, Bergner never ceased to identify himself with that of a melancholic boy or girl, at times even as sad clowns (”Little Clown”, 1958).
As such, dressed in clown clothing, they entered into his seemingly ”Surrealist” period, sitting with their families around the table and feeding on butterflies (1965), or ”hunted” birds on trees in a barren landscape (1963) and more.
Time and again they are portrayed together with their families in absurd yet poetical scenes as the uprooted refugee, victims of a ruthless destiny.
In this painting from 1969 (inspired by Magritte paintings), we encounter the figure of Bella (the title given by Bergner), a young girl, gazing directly at us, the sea and the skies in the background, large stones falling above her.
These are sculpted stones, the stones of a demolished house, but also stones of punishment thrown at her from the skies for no reason.
Notice that the girl is not only a tragic victim of a blind metaphysical destiny, forced upon her by the destruction of his home, loneliness and devastation: Bella holds one of the stones as though hanging on to the memory of her home and possibly accepting her fate as a refugee, the silence of the sea and the sky behind her offer no solace.
These days, as hundreds and thousands of Syrian and African refugees drown in the Mediterranean; Bergner’s painting is as relevant as ever. But in his painting, not even a European shore awaits the little girl in the horizon. For Bergner as with Bergner’s paintings: the wanderings of the refugee never come to an end.
(Translated and adapted from Gidon Ofrat)
| Bella, Oil on canvas, 60X73 cm. Signed. Titled on the reverse. Provenance: Firon Collection. The fate of children in Yosl Bergner paintings. Since his painting ”Death in the Family” from 1956, portraying faces of a sad family, the image of the mother holding her dead son returns. As too in the painting ”Saints” from 1961. This Jewish ’Pieta’ by Bergner – death of a son – expresses a deep emotion of his own dead childhood, in Warsaw, from which he, together with his sister (and parents) were expelled in 1937 and sent alone to Melbourne Australia. From thereon, Bergner never ceased to identify himself with that of a melancholic boy or girl, at times even as sad clowns (”Little Clown”, 1958). As such, dressed in clown clothing, they entered into his seemingly ”Surrealist” period, sitting with their families around the table and feeding on butterflies (1965), or ”hunted” birds on trees in a barren landscape (1963) and more. Time and again they are portrayed together with their families in absurd yet poetical scenes as the uprooted refugee, victims of a ruthless destiny. In this painting from 1969 (inspired by Magritte paintings), we encounter the figure of Bella (the title given by Bergner), a young girl, gazing directly at us, the sea and the skies in the background, large stones falling above her. These are sculpted stones, the stones of a demolished house, but also stones of punishment thrown at her from the skies for no reason. Notice that the girl is not only a tragic victim of a blind metaphysical destiny, forced upon her by the destruction of his home, loneliness and devastation: Bella holds one of the stones as though hanging on to the memory of her home and possibly accepting her fate as a refugee, the silence of the sea and the sky behind her offer no solace. These days, as hundreds and thousands of Syrian and African refugees drown in the Mediterranean; Bergner’s painting is as relevant as ever. But in his painting, not even a European shore awaits the little girl in the horizon. For Bergner as with Bergner’s paintings: the wanderings of the refugee never come to an end. (Translated and adapted from Gidon Ofrat) |
