Isaac Dobrinsky
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(November 2009) |
Isaac Dobrinsky | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1891 Makarov, Russian Empire (Today Ukraine) |
| Died | 1973 |
| Nationality | French |
| Education | Sabatovski art school |
| Movement | École de Paris |
Isaac Dobrinsky(1891–1973) was a Polish-French sculptor and painter of theSchool of Paris.
Early life[edit]
He was born in the Polish city of Makarov,Kyivprovince, now inUkraine.His father was a religiously observantJewand he himself was brought up in a traditional way: he studied in a "Heder"(Jewish elementary school) and in a"Yeshiva"(Jewish high school). He always found himself attracted to art. After his father’s sudden death he moved to Kyiv to studysculpture.
Education and career[edit]
Dobrinsky lived in Kyiv for six years. He began sculptingterracottafigures, and enrolled inSabatovski art school.[1]He worked as a storekeeper in a tin can factory during this period. In 1912, he won a prize for his sculpture which allowed him to move toPariswhere he lived until his death in 1973.[2]
Upon his arrival in France, he became friends with the sculptor Marec Szwarc and the painterChaïm Soutinewho helped him settle down in Paris and shared their studio with him. Dobrinsky abandoned sculpture in favor ofpaintinga year after his arrival, as a result of ill health. His first painting was shown at theSalon d'Automnea few months later.
In 1914, he joined theFrench Foreign Legion,but he was soon released onmedical discharge.[2]
He then returned to Paris and attended theColarossi Academy,where he met Vera Kremer (her father, Arkadi Kremer, was the founder of theBund,the Jewish socialist party inEastern Europe). The two got married in 1926.
In 1934, he moved to a larger studio inMontparnasse,and in the next few years he made his major breakthrough in the art scene. These were happy days for the young couple, full of creativity. ButSecond World Warput an end to this harmony. In the first two years of theGerman occupation,Dobrinsky and his family stayed in Paris, but in 1942, in order to escapedeportation,they fled to a small villageDordogne.
In 1944, after theliberation,Dobrinsky returned to Paris to find that the sculptures he had left behind were destroyed. In 1950, he was invited by Serge and Rachel Pludermacher (the founders of anorphan home) to paint the portraits of the children in their institute. In the course of two years, Dobrinsky worked on about forty portraits of young boys and girls.
Dobrinsky used to say: "I don’t wish to be successful, I just wish to understand the mystery of creation". Those who knew Dobrinsky say that there was something almost religious in his act of painting: very intimate and somewhat melancholic.
Even though he had aheart conditionduring his last years, he had never stopped painting, and always in the same manner. When he died at the age of 81, he was working on astill lifepainting. Today he is remembered for his paintings rather than his sculptures.[3]
References[edit]
- ^"Ben Uri Art Gallery website".Archived fromthe originalon 2014-03-15.Retrieved2014-03-15.
- ^abSilver & Golan, p. 99.
- ^Isaac Dobrinskyin theRKD
References[edit]
- Puech, Christian (2008).De l'autre à soi, rencontres: Isaac Dobrinsky, artiste de l'École de Paris.Vision d'Art Editions.ISBN978-2917999004.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - Roth, Cecil (1961).Jewish art: an illustrated history.New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 239.OCLC832856.
- Silver, Kenneth E.;Golan, Romy(1985).The Circle of Montparnasse: Jewish artists in Paris, 1905-1945.Universe Books.ISBN0876634803.
- Strossberg, Elaine (2008).Human expressionism: the human figure and the Jewish experience.Somogy Art Publishers.ISBN978-2757201701.
External links[edit]
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