Gershon Iskowitz 1921 - 1988

Estate of the artist

Miriam Shiell Fine Art, Toronto

An Exhibition of Rare Paintings from the 1960's and 1970's, Miriam Shiell Fine Art, Toronto, May, 2008, p. 4, reproduced in colour, see foreward for quote by Burnett

This work is in very good condition. UV inspection reveals a small touch up in the centre of the painting, and drips of varnish fluoresce green. There are 4 small flecks of paint loss in the lower left corner, and one in the upper right.
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The body of work from the mid 1960's asserted Gershon Iskowitz's reputation and laid the foundation for a language of abstraction that was uniquely and unmistakably his own. 

The starting point for this series was, principally, an outgrowth of representations of a single tree.  The naturalistic reference quickly disappears, however, and we are left with a pulsing and breathing mass of colour and pattern.

As David Burnett wrote, "...to see the art of Gershon Iskowitz is to understand how it is rooted in the directness of experience." 

This fine work remained in the artist's personal collection until his death, which may be an indication of the importance and affection he had for it as one of the crucial paintings in his career. It marks the turning point at which his painting was liberated from the thoughts, images and mood that had weighed on his work after his internment during the war.