Itzchak Tarkay
1935-
At the age of 9, Tarkay and his family were sent to the
Mathausen Concentration Camp, until Allied liberation freed them
a year later. In 1949 his family immigrated to Israel, living in a
kibbutz for several years, and by 1951 he had received a
scholarship to the Bezalel Art Academy where he studied under
the artist Schwartzman. Until his graduation from the Avni Institute
of Art in 1956, Tarkay learned a great deal from many famous
artists of the time, such as Mokady, Janko, Schtreichman and
Stematsky.
Tarkay has achieved recognition as a leading representative of a
new generation of figurative artists. The inspiration for his work
clearly lies with French Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism,
particularly the color sophistication of Matisse and the drawing
style of Toulouse-Lautrec, while summing up the characteristics
of his model subject without relying on the precise copying of
natural forms, or the patient assembling of exact detail. As well as
being a painter and watercolorist, Tarkay is a master graphic
artist and his rich tapestry of form and color is achieved primarily
through the use of the serigraph. In his serigraphs, many colors
are laid over one another and used to create texture and
transparency.
After exhibiting both in Israel and abroad, he received recognition
at the International Art Expo in New York in 1986 and 1987 for
works in several forms of media, including oil, acrylic and
watercolor. Today, Tarkay is considered one of the most
influential artists of the early 21st Century and has inspired
dozens of artists throughout the world, with his contemplative
depiction of the female figure. Three hardcover books have been
written on Tarkay and his art, the most recent, Tarkay, Profile of
an Artist was published in 1997.
At the age of 9, Tarkay and his family were sent to the
Mathausen Concentration Camp, until Allied liberation freed them
a year later. In 1949 his family immigrated to Israel, living in a
kibbutz for several years, and by 1951 he had received a
scholarship to the Bezalel Art Academy where he studied under
the artist Schwartzman. Until his graduation from the Avni Institute
of Art in 1956, Tarkay learned a great deal from many famous
artists of the time, such as Mokady, Janko, Schtreichman and
Stematsky.
Tarkay has achieved recognition as a leading representative of a
new generation of figurative artists. The inspiration for his work
clearly lies with French Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism,
particularly the color sophistication of Matisse and the drawing
style of Toulouse-Lautrec, while summing up the characteristics
of his model subject without relying on the precise copying of
natural forms, or the patient assembling of exact detail. As well as
being a painter and watercolorist, Tarkay is a master graphic
artist and his rich tapestry of form and color is achieved primarily
through the use of the serigraph. In his serigraphs, many colors
are laid over one another and used to create texture and
transparency.
After exhibiting both in Israel and abroad, he received recognition
at the International Art Expo in New York in 1986 and 1987 for
works in several forms of media, including oil, acrylic and
watercolor. Today, Tarkay is considered one of the most
influential artists of the early 21st Century and has inspired
dozens of artists throughout the world, with his contemplative
depiction of the female figure. Three hardcover books have been
written on Tarkay and his art, the most recent, Tarkay, Profile of
an Artist was published in 1997.
