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Eugène ZAK (Mogilno 1884–Paris 1926)
See original version (French)
44
-
Eugène ZAK (Mogilno 1884–Paris 1926)
See original version (French)
Estimate €8,000 - €10,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Eugène ZAK (Mogilno 1884–Paris 1926)
A bay in the south of France
Painted in 1913
Oil on cardboard
24 x 33 cm
Signed lower left ‘Eug Zak’
Comparative work:
Barbara Brus-Malinowska (ed.), ‘Eugeniusz Zak 1884–1926’, Warsaw, National Museum, 18 December 2003 – 29 February 2004, Scientific and Technical Press, Warsaw, 2004, reproduced on p. 98, no. 56.
Eugène Zak, born Eugeniusz Żak, was a Polish painter and draughtsman of the École de Paris. He was born in Mogilno into a Polish Jewish family. His father was a railway engineer; he died in 1892. Following his father’s death, his mother moved to her hometown, Warsaw. There, he began studying business and took up drawing.
Eugène Zak arrived in the French capital in 1902, at the age of eighteen. He enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Jean-Léon Gérôme’s studio. A few months later, he continued his training at the Académie Colarossi, in the studio of the painter Albert Besnard.
In 1903, Eugène Zak travelled around Europe. He visited Italy – Rome and Florence – before arriving in Munich, where he took lessons from Anton Azbe at a private art school.
He then returned to Paris the following year and began exhibiting at the Salon d’Automne. Eugène Zak subsequently made several trips to Brittany, in 1906 and 1907, visiting Pont-l’Abbé and Douarnenez in particular. During his travels, he painted portraits of Breton men and women, set in interiors or against landscape backdrops.
Eugène Zak became friends with several art critics, writers and art dealers, such as André Salmon, Guillaume Apollinaire, Adolf Basler and Waldemar George. In 1911, he stayed with Roman Kramsztyk in Audierne, became one of the founding members of the Society of Polish Artists in Paris and rented a studio at 17 Rue Campagne-Première in Montparnasse. His neighbours included Polish artists such as Władysław Skoczylas, Jan Rubczak and Gustaw Gwozdecki. In 1912, Zak taught at the private school ‘La Palette’, where Moïse Kisling was one of his pupils. That same year, the artist travelled to the south of France; he was particularly taken with Vence, Saint-Paul and Cagnes-sur-Mer. Eugène Zak married the painter Jadwiga Kon in 1913; they had been a couple since 1902.
The artist returned to Paris in 1923 and lived at the Hôtel Médical, at 28 Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Jacques, alongside his painter friends Marc Chagall and Zygmunt Menkes. Eugène Zak died suddenly on 15 January 1926 of a heart attack. Following the painter’s death, his wife Jadwiga Zak founded the Galerie Zak on Rue de l’Abbaye in 1927. There, she organised major exhibitions, showcasing her husband’s works alongside those of artists such as Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Amedeo Modigliani, Jules Pascin, Béla Czóbel and Giorgio de Chirico.
In addition to his numerous ‘Idylls’ – his timeless and poetic landscapes – Eugène Zak also produced more realistic landscapes inspired by his travels. In 1912–1913, the artist made several trips to the south of France, to the areas around Cagnes and Vence. It was during a trip in 1913 that the painter produced the work we are presenting today. There is a similar version, painted on canvas measuring 64 × 81 cm and reproduced in the catalogue *Eugeniusz Zak 1884–1926* by Barbara Brus-Malinowska.
E.V
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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