Michael Gross 1920-2004

Mordechai Omer, Michael Gross, 1993, no. 106, p. 86, illustrated in color

Original Canvas. Overall, this work is in good condition. There is craquelure throughout the area with ochre paint. There are a few specks of paint loss scattered on the ochre background. There is a repaired tear apparent on the reverse with related inpainting. Under UV light, there is uneven paint application. Some areas fluoresce, but no apparent inpainting.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Michael Gross is celebrated for the virtuosity with which he reduces human and landscape forms to their most spiritually essential elements. He was born in Tiberias in 1920 and studied at the École des Beaux Arts, Paris during the fifties. In 1960, Gross represented Israel at the Venice Biennale and continued to exhibit throughout the world. During his time in Paris he was captivated by the works of Soutine, Matisse, Brancusi and Giacometti. The sense of an oppressed individual in an open space and the noble struggle for existence, themes at the heart of Giacometti's oeuvre were hugely influential in the way that Gross portrayed his figures confined and defined by the landscape of Israel. This is clearly seen in the present work as Mordechai Omer describes: ' In his early landscape painting during the 60's...Gross was responding to the drama of encounters between the 'great masses' in the most expressive manner. The traces of the encounter were marked with the darkest brushstrokes on the background of surfaces suffused with light, in colors of brown, ochre and lemon yellow...The fissures that wound the fields are analogous in certain senses to motifs that recur in other paintings of those years, which the diminishing presence of the human figure in the open space: in paintings such as...Figure of a Woman (Blue on Ochre) (1967, 1974), the human figure is reduced and refined until it becomes a trembling wire that streams upward in pain.' (Mordechai Omer, Michael Gross, Tel Aviv, 1993, p.36).