'Bouquet of Flowers' by Isis Kischka (1963)

'Bouquet of Flowers', oil on canvas, by the French artist Isis Kischka (1963). This work reflects a post-war French modernist sensibility, with a graphic treatment of form and restrained colouration that faintly recall the linear discipline of his contemporary Bernard Buffet. Kischka’s approach, however, is distinguished by softer, more rounded contours and a quieter, more decorative tonality. On the frame stretcher on the reverse, an annotation is scribbled: "Vase Bleu au Fond Vert - 1963 Kischka" (Blue Vase with Green Background). The work is in good overall condition and has been newly framed with a linen slip. It is signed in the lower left hand. Upon request a video will be provided.

About the Artist: Isis Kischka (1908-1973) was born in Paris to a Jewish family who had migrated from the Ukraine two years earlier. After completing studies in commerce he became interested in painting and became an artist in 1926, working first as a designer of medals. He married in 1932 and three years later began to study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. His main sources of inspiration were Van Gogh and Cézanne. Over time, his paintings and colourful lithographs caught the attention of the prestigious art critics Jean Cassou and George Waldemar, the latter comparing Kischka's style to "the song of the nightingale". In 1938 Kischka's works were exhibited for the first time at the Salon des Indépendants and subsequently at the Salon d'Automne.

In 1941 Kischka was arrested and interned in Compiègne. He became a central figure in the artistic activity of the camp, organising exhibitions and winning the highest esteem of fellow artists like Jacques Ostrowsky and Savely Schleifer, who dedicated several of their works to him. From Compiègne he was transferred to Drancy but managed to avoid deportation to the death camps. In the fall of 1944, after 39 months of internment, Kischka was freed and returned to Paris. Some time after his return he founded, together with art critic Jean Cassou and curator Yvon Bizardel, an association called "Artists Witness their Time". Their first exhibition was held in 1951 and included works by Henri Matisse, Georges Rouault, Raoul Dufy and Moïse Kisling. Kischka devoted his time to running the association's gallery, refusing to exhibit his own works there. But this did not prevent him from continuing with his own artistic work and from showing elsewhere. His landscapes, portraits and still life paintings were exhibited from 1956, first in a one-man show at the Nantes gallery and a year later at the Parisian gallery of Saint Placide. Subsequently, his works would be seen in galleries throughout France and in other countries. His extensive artistic and public activities were cut short in December 1973, when he died in Paris after a severe illness.

Dimensions with frame:

H 39.6 cm / 15.6"

W 33.7 cm / 13.3"

Dimensions without frame:

H 25.5 cm / 10"

W 20.2 cm / 8"