Arthur Kolnik .........(1)
(Stanislawow 1890 - 1972 Izrael)
Arthur Kolnik was born in Stanislavov, a small town in Galicia. His father, who was originally from Lithuania, worked as an accountant and his mother, who was originally from Vienna, ran a shop. In 1905, he discovered Yiddish literature during the first conference on Yiddish language in Czernowitz organized by several writers including I. L. Peretz, Cholem Aleichem, Shalom Asch and Nomberg.
In 1909, Kolnik joined the School of Fine Arts in Krakow and was mobilized in the Austrian army in 1914. Invalided home in 1916, he met in Vienna the painter Isidor Kaufmann. In 1919, Kolnik settled in Czernowitz where he met writer and poet Itzik Manger and storyteller Eliezer Steinberg for whom he produced several illustrations. In 1920, Kolnik saw an advertisement in a Yiddish newspaper about an exhibition of Jewish Polish painters in New York and decided to leave with fifty paintings for the United States. He found out that it was too late for his paintings to be exhibited at the event. Fortunately, however, he met photographer Alfred Stieglitz who found him a gallery and organized an exhibition of his work.
In 1931, Kolnik arrived in Paris with his family and gave up for several years painting. His wife was teaching piano while he was illustrating fashion journals. In 1934, he produced an album of twenty-four engravings, Sous le chapeau haut de forme (Underneath the Top Hat), which was prefaced by Henri Barbusse. A little later, he produced twelve plates for Grosbart's Les Personnages (The Characters) and, in 1948, illustrated I.L. Peretz' Métamorphoses d'une mélodie (Metamorphosis of a Melody).
Following the war, Arthur Kolnik stayed in London, New York, Krakow, Vienna, Riga, and Buenos Aires, where he exhibited his work. He contributed to the journal "Nos Artistes" (Our Artists). In 1962, his first solo exhibition took place in Paris at the Galerie Creuze. That same year, he travelled to Israel for the first time.
"Kaparah", c. 1930, oil on hardboard, 80 x 40 cm (31 1/2 x 15 3/4 in), private collection
"Boats", oil on board, 34 x 46 cm, private collection
"Purim Spiel", oil on canvas, 55 x 46 cm, private collection
"Family", oil on canvas, 46 x 27 cm, private collection
"Purim Spiel", oil on masonite, 73 x 120 cm, private collection
"Hassid and goat", 1960's, oil on board, 64 x 48 cm, private collection
"Proposal", oil on canvas on cardboard, 35 x 27 cm, private collection
"Bouquet of Thistles", oil on masonite, 65 x 50 cm, private collection
"Still Life of Flowers on a Table", oil on canvas, 65.4 x 54 cm, private collection
Auction results
ARTWORKS of CONTEMPORARY POLISH ARTISTS for SALE
    
ARTWORKS of CONTEMPORARY POLISH ARTISTS for SALE
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