Mane-Katz

Born as Mane Leyzerovich Kats in Bucarest. He began to draw at an early age and soon devoted himself to painting. he studied art with the painter ISER, a colleage of Andre Derain. later he stodied at the Polytechnical school in Zurich and established contacts with artists and writeres lake Jean Arp and Tristan Tzara.

Mane Katz  arrived to Paris at the age of 19 to study art, where he worked closely with artists as Picasso and Toulus Lotrec.

Mane Katz was a key figure in the jewish- French group known as the Ecole de Paris, the French-Jewish expressionists movement.
A Times critique once said about the Ecloe des Paris artists that “the French colors emancipated them from the darkness of the Russian tradition.”

Indeed, Mane Katz paintings are full of vividness, cheerful colors and enthusiasm.
Not like other artists from the group, as Modigliani and Chagall, Mane Katz was a genuine Expressionist- his paintings suggest a pure glimpse into his subject’s inner self. In order to find their sensitivity, he wasn’t afraid to distort or exaggerate the natural colors.

Although he usually dealt with Jewish themes, Mane Katz refused to see himself as a Judaica artist. A Jewish Chronicle critique wrote about Mane Katz that “he has to be respected as a Jewish painter, but also as a universal artist. As an incessant wanderer, Mane Katz feels like home anywhere he goes. There is no major city in the world he hasn’t been or exhibited“.