NEN Gallery

Mané-Katz, Stormy Seas, 1934
Oil on canvas

Emmanuel Mané-Katz was born in 1894 into an orthodox Jewish family in the Ukraine, where his father was sexton of a synagogue. He studied art, first in Kiev and then in Paris, after abandoning his studies to become a rabbi. In Paris, Mané-Katz met Picasso, Chaim Soutine and other important artists. He went back to the Ukraine after World War l and taught at the acadamy in Khar’kov (now Kharkiv). He returned in Paris in 1921 to paint, obtaining French citizenship in 1927. His main themes were life in Eastern European Jewish ghettos, rabbis, musicians and beggars, although he also painted a number of landscapes and flower studies. After France fell to the Germans during the Second World War, Mané-Katz went to New York where he made several sculptures. After the war, his style and sombre colours changed to become brighter, bolder and more patterned. He made a number of trips to Israel, which he regarded as his spiritual home. He gave his paintings and a large collection of Jewish ritual objects to the city of Haifa, which are now housed in the Mané-Katz museum. Mané-Katz died in 1962.

Other works by Mané-Katz in the Ben Uri Collection
Israel Landscape 1935
The Road to Jordan 1935
Algerian Jew 1934

Works by Mané-Katz in other collections
Orchestra c.1949 (Tate collection)

Many works by Mané-Katz can be found at:
http://www.artnet.com/9284/mane-katz.html
and
http://www.jewishartnetwork.com/JewishArt/o_mane-katz.asp

Sculptures by Mané-Katz can be found at:
http://www.mede-gallery.com/katz.html