{"product_id":"gershon-iskowitz-western-sphere-watercolor-1969","title":"GERSHON ISKOWITZ \"WESTERN SPHERE\" WATERCOLOR, 1969","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIt is hard to reconcile \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.caviar20.com\/collections\/gershon-iskowitz\" title=\"GERSHON ISKOWITZ PAINTING 1988 CAVIAR20\"\u003eGershon Iskowitz's\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (1921-1988) aesthetic with his personal history. He survived the darkest side of humanity and built a life dedicated to creating beautiful art.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBorn to a religious family in Poland, Iskowitz was allowed to leave Yeshiva (Jewish religious studies) in order to study art independently. The outbreak of war forced him to return to his hometown where he was conscripted to forced labor, then transferred to \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Buchenwald_concentration_camp\" title=\"Buchenwald Concentration Camp\"\u003eBuchenwald\u003c\/a\u003e in 1944, one of the first and most notorious Nazi concentration camps. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUpon liberation, Iskowitz spent nearly 9 months recuperating in the hospital. He then studied at the Academy of Fine Art in Munich before immigrating to Canada.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor most of the 1950s, he incorporated representation into his art. By the 60's he had established a modest reputation in Toronto and beyond,  joining the Gallery Moos stable in 1964. The legend goes that in 1967 thanks to a Canadian Council grant, Iskowitz took a helicopter tour of the north. The experience of seeing the massive expanse of trees from above inspired a major redirection of his aesthetic and material and approach. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIskowitz embraced watercolors during two distinct chapters of his career; in 1968-69 as his career gained significant momentum and about a decade later, during 1977-78, as a major monograph of his work was being published and a touring retrospective began. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMade by dropping paint onto dampened paper, his watercolours offer floating blips and colourful clusters that vibrate across the page. Iskowitz was measured in his process so that each chromatic patch came across clearly, not muddied with one another. The result is a thoughtful application of colour, shape, and process. Despite its fullness. This composition is quite meditative and soothing, the subtleties working in tandem to create a balanced presentation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIskowitz received six Canada Council grants for his work, establishing him as a Canadian painter in his own right. He represented Canada at the Venice Biennial in 1972. A retrospective of his work was held in 1984 at the Art Gallery of Ontario, AGO, travelling through Canada as well as to Canada House in London, England. His work remains in the permanent collections of the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/ago.ca\/agoinsider\/mystery-gershon-iskowitz\"\u003eAGO\u003c\/a\u003e and the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.gallery.ca\/collection\/artist\/gershon-iskowitz\"\u003eNational Gallery of Canada,\u003c\/a\u003e among others.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003cspan\u003eQuestions about this piece? \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"mailto:troy@caviar20.com\"\u003eContact us\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, call +1.416.704.1720, or\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.caviar20.com\/pages\/contact\"\u003evisit our Toronto Gallery\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eWestern Sphere #14\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCanada, 1969\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWatercolour\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSigned and dated by artist, lower right\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e21\"H 27\"W (work)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e28.5\"H 34\"W (framed)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery good condition\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProvenance: Gallery Moos, Toronto\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNote: price is $6,500 CAD\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gershon Iskowitz","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47957420310764,"sku":"07-26","price":6500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0074\/2712\/files\/Caviar20_Geshon-Iskowitz-Western-spehere-14-1969_01.jpg?v=1784550854","url":"https:\/\/www.caviar20.com\/products\/gershon-iskowitz-western-sphere-watercolor-1969","provider":"Caviar20","version":"1.0","type":"link"}