Nahum Gutman

Tel Aviv, Rubin Museum, Tel Aviv at Eighty, 1989, p. 12

Original canvas. The surface is in very good condition. No retouching is apparent when viewed under ultra violet light. The colors are fresh and vibrant. This work has been recently cleaned.
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In 1926, Nahum Gutman returned to Eretz Israel after spending six years in Europe pursuing his art studies. He became a part of a group of modernist artists who created the Eretz Israel movement, changing the local art scene by infusing it with new ideas and energy. These artists, mostly foreign born, used quasi-naive styles, striving to capture the sense of optimism and liberation felt by the Zionist settlers. The naïve approach, particularly in Gutman and Rubin's work of the period, was of a highly sophisticated nature and showed a certain reverence to the naïve French master, Henri Rousseau.

This major early canvas was painted in the 1930s, a time in which the artist focused on landscape painting. Gutman, through his subdued color palette and harmonious composition, captures the nuances of this tranquil street in which two figures, reduced by an array of trees, walk silently and alone.