Suzanne Elath

Suzanne Elath :

Born in 1924 in Vienna,
Austria, Suzanne Elath studied at the « Ecole des Beaux-Arts » in
Paris, France. Throughout the German
occupation of France during the Second World War, she used her art and skills
to serve a team of forgers, with Adolfo Kamisky. Resistance as well as her
commitment to Peace and Human Rights has been her lifelong goal.
In 1949, Suzanne decided
to follow her soon-to-be husband in Israel, where she lived more than sixty
years, in the South, near the rocky desert, whose landscape strongly influenced
her work.

She discovered etching at
the Visual Art Centre of Beer-Sheva, and she took part of engraving workshops
in the Kibbutz Nirim. She painted Bedouin women and the life in the desert with
a strong enthusiasm. Quickly, her work with oil
pastels asserted itself depicting very characteristic volumes, and she
successfully started displaying her paintings in numerous collective and solo
exhibitions. A sort of a great wisdom comes out of her work.
She uses and mixes with
skill oil pastel, wash, ink and pencil in her painting. Her figures seem
sculptured. They have the texture of stone and express a calm force. Her themes
are maternity, encounter, mourning, and solidarity.

The deep looks meet and
form silent dialogues. A certain intimacy is
disclosed in every drawing, with impressive figures, drawn with free and thick
lines, kind of giants full of love and tenderness. She also creates etching,
engraving and silkscreen prints.
Even though she was well
renowned in Israel, she only took part to few collective art fairs in Paris in
her life. She lives in France since 2014, and in 2017, the Bénédicte Giniaux
Art Gallery has set up her first solo exhibition in France.

All the paintings on
display on this Artsper website will be sent without any frame, it is therefore
necessary to provide a framework.

Beyond the desert inspirations, Suzanne Elath's work
went through two other decisive influences:

She recounts her passion for the Middle Ages
paintings, and especially for Giotto's frescoes, she is fascinated by the
exchange of glances he depicted. She particularly loves the Cluny museum in Paris,
where she never gets tired of looking at “The Lady and the Unicorn" tapestries.

In sculpture, her first admiration goes to Henri Moore's work, who explored in his time a new relationship between reality and space, confronting abstraction and figurative. He has influenced many artists.

In sculpture, her first admiration goes to Henri Moore's work, who
explored in his time a new relationship between reality and space, confronting
abstraction and figurative. He has influenced many artists.

“Between beauty of
expression and power of expression
there is a difference of function. The first aims at pleasing the senses,
the second has a spiritual vitality which for me is more moving and goes
deeper than the senses"  H.M.