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3262
Impressionist & Modern Art
| 64
3262
MARCEL JANCO(Bucharest 1895 - 1984 Ein Hod)
Route d'héros. 1950.
Oil on canvas.
Signed lower left: Janco.
82 x 101 cm.
Provenance:
- Sotheby's Tel Aviv, 31 May 1990, lot 27.
- Private collection, Switzerland.
The Romanian-Israeli artist, writer and
architect Marcel Janco is primarily known
as one of the forefathers of Dadaism and
co-founder of the Cabaret Voltaire, yet
his contribution to the development and
promotion of Jewish and Israeli art is of
major significance.
Amidst increasing antisemitism, Janco
fled his native Romania to Israel in 1941
and within a short period of time became
one of the main promoters and represen-
tatives of Jewish art. The years between
1945 and 1955 were marked by numerous
activities involving cultural policy. On behalf
of the new State of Israel, Janco desig-
ned national parks and managed them
as curator; he was involved with the Old
City of Jaffa and contributed greatly to its
artist-friendly community.
In 1950 his paintings were shown at a ret-
rospective in New York, which established
the international significance of his work.
One year later Janco resumed his acti-
vities as an art teacher, and the following
year his work was presented in the first
Israel Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. One
of the most remarkable achievements
of this industrious artist was the salvage,
preservation and revival of the town of Ein
Hod, which had been deserted a few years
earlier during the exodus of the Palestinian
Arabs. Janco rebuilt the site together with
other Israeli artists and turned it into a
form of utopian community, artists' colony
and tourist attraction.
CHF 25 000 / 35 000
(€ 23 150 / 32 410)