Mordecai Ardon

Marlborough Gallery, New York

Overall in very good condition. Original canvas. There are scattered areas of minor craquelure as well as a few spots of paint loss and one vertical stain along the center of the work. No retouching is apparent when viewed under ultra violet light.
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"In his paintings, Mordecai Ardon creates many bridges: from Kandinsky, Klee and Itten to El Greco and Rembrandt; from childhood memories to views of Jerusalem; from abstract art to the saying 'Don't die without bearing witness'; from the 'new objectivity' to forms which express rather than describe; from sadness to joy; from the visible world to the hidden one of the Kabbalah. These bridges not only connect far off and apparently contradictory worlds, but also constitute an attempt to create an interesting and original combination between the elements which are embedded in the artist's complex personality and way of life." (Marc Scheps, "Foreword" in Ardon: A Retrospective, exhibition catalogue, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 1985).

Ardon was a true music lover; portraying the relationships between music, color and light in a pure, abstract style was a goal of his. His affinity towards music, poems and the written word is strongly evident in the present work. Ardon's childhood experiences and memories are incorporated here; his father was a Hassidic clockmaker, hence the pendulum and Sabbath candles. The Sabbath is a theme throughout Ardon's work and in 1963 he said "In our period we are struck by fear: some kind of anxiety hangs over us and we don't know how to escape it... I am seeking a way in order to make it easier for me... If I were a very good painter, maybe I could make some paintings with this power of remaining stable in a very changing world. I have a word for it. Shabbat (Sabbath) is peace, quiet. You are not only at peace, but tranquil. If I were a very good painter, I could bring in a little of the Shabbat into every painting. It would be wonderful, because it would soothe the onlooker... Shabbat not for Jews only - Shabbat for the whole world." (Elhanani p. 384; and Katz, "Ardon" pp. 16-17 as quoted by Ziva Amishai-Maisels, "Where Past Meets Present: The Art of Ardon" in Ardon: A Retrospective, exhibition catalogue, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 1985).

Notes and Letters was painted after Ardon left Jerusalem to live in Paris where the artist focused even more detrmindely on the spiritual and universal, looking towards peace and future redemption.