Mané Katz (1894-1962) – Two Boys – Gouache on Cardboard

Mané Katz (1894-1962) – Two Boys – Gouache on Cardboard
Two Boys, a painting by Mané Katz (1894-1962).
Gouache on cardboard. Signed.
Emanuel Mané Katz (1894-1962) was born in Kremenchuk, Ukraine. As the son of a synagogue attendant (shamash), he received traditional education; yet at the age of 16, moved to Vilnius to study art. Katz did not find his place in Vilnius, and after a while, moved to Kiev, where during the years 1911-1913, he studied at the school of fine arts. Later, he headed for Paris where he studied at the studio of Fernand Cormon at the Académie des Beaux-Arts. When World War I broke out, he wanted to join the French Foreign Legion, but was rejected due to his short stature and returned to Russia. After the war, he taught at the Kharkiv school of art and was one of the members of the avant-garde "Group of Three". In 1921, he returned to Paris and in the following years, visited Palestine several times, painting its views. At the beginning of World War II, he was drafted and taken prisoner by the Germans then released, escaping immediately to the USA. After the war, he returned to Paris for the third time.
Katz visited Israel several times, while continuing to travel and exhibit around the world. In 1958, he immigrated to Israel and settled in Haifa, where the municipality gave him a house. In an agreement signed by the artist and the city, Katz made a commitment to donate his entire collection to the city in exchange for the establishment of a museum that will preserve his artistic legacy. Katz belonged to the School of Paris; in his early days as an artist, he was influenced by Cubism, then by Fauvism, later turning to the works of Rembrandt, which accounts for the sympathy with which he sees his subjects and his compassion to those on the fringes of society.
31X43.5 cm. Good condition. The signature is partly erased; appearing alongside it is a date, mostly illegible. Framed: 78X63 cm. Blemishes and minor fractures to frame.