Alfred Aaron WOLMARK (1877-1961) - Lot 61

Alfred Aaron WOLMARK (1877-1961) The red cow Oil on panel Signed lower left 40.5 x 51 cm Provenance Christie's sale of the artist's studio collection, February 28, 1983, London Private collection, Paris Born in Warsaw, Poland, Wolmark emigrated to London before training as an artist at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in the 1890s, where he exhibited his work between 1901 and 1936. He returned briefly to Poland in 1903. In his native land, he created works centered on his Jewish identity, in which he idealized the peaceful, contemplative elements of his religion. In 1911, while in France, he was struck by the modernity of French painting, and this was reflected in his palette and style, which became known as Post-Impressionist. He was also one of the English Fauves. His work, totally impacted by color, enabled him to take his color division to a higher level than any of his contemporaries. Wolmark transforms his subjects using flattened forms, constructed with a thickening of the brushstroke. His mastery and use of vivid colors earned him the title of "King of Color". In La vache rouge, the painter is still in the midst of his research into color and tonal separation. He experimented with the three primary colors (red, blue and yellow), making them confront and oppose each other on the canvas by placing them side by side. Not only a painter, Wolmark also created costume and set designs for Diaghilev's ballets in 1911 and illustrated the complete works of writer Israel Zangwill. He also tried his hand at stained glass, producing abstract designs for St. Mary's parish church in Slough in 1915 and painted vase decoration the following year.