Eugène ZAK (1884-1926)
The melancholic young man
Oil on canvas.
Signed lower left.
54 x 33 cm
A great admirer of Italian Quattrocento painting, Zak fuses the contributions of the Nabis and Puvis de Chavanne into a unique and deeply disturbing style. His talent was noticed by the art critics Adolphe Basler and André Salmon in 1911 when the artist was exhibited at the Galerie Druet. A student of Jean-Léon Gérôme at the Beaux-Arts de Paris and of Albert Besnard, Zak revealed himself in the portrait of characters with often realistic lines but melted into allegorical settings. An artist of the School of Paris and founder of the Polish "Rhythm" movement, Eugène Zak is marked by an aesthetic culture marked by his Polish and Jewish roots. Zak combines them with other iconographic inspirations such as the pastoral current of the 18th century, post-impressionism and the beginnings of abstraction. Here, Zak puts his art at the service of poetry by expressing melancholy with softness and mystery, plastically embodied by the harmony of pink and grey tones of the young man's clothes.
Small chip of paint in a tree.
The yellow varnish is oxidized.
Slight trace of frame on the perimeter of the painting.
A cleaning will give a shimmering image.
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