Issachar Ber Ryback

Atelier 46 Rue d'Orsel, Paris

The canvas is unlined. The picture surface is in generally good condition aside from scattered craquelure. Under UV, there are no apparent signs of inpainting.
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Born in the Ukraine in 1897, Ryback lived in Moscow in 1919-20, where he worked closely with the artists of the Russian avant-garde, in particular El Lissitsky, Pevsner and Gabo. In 1921, he moved to Berlin where he associated with Der Sturm. In 1925 he was invited back to Soviet Russia to design sets and costumes for the Moscow theater. He finally settled in Paris in 1926 where his artistic themes turned nostalgically to Russian Jewish shtetl life. In 1935, on the eve of his first large retrospective at Galerie Wildenstein, he suddenly died.

In a review published in La Presse Waldemar George commented: "Ryback is not a realist given to the interpretation of dramatic subjects. He is a visionary who transforms rags and tatters into sumptuous brocades. By virtue of his magical colours, human waifs are changed into kings of legend, the desolate sites of Eastern Europe glow with intense brilliance, and his muddy farmyard evoke a rich tapestry, woven with silken threads." (Waldemar George quoted in I. Ryback 1897-1935, exhibition catalogue, Bat Yam, 1963).