Isaac Dobrinsky
Makaroff, Ucraina, 1891 - Parigi, 1973
Since 1930 he has had important solo exhibitions in Paris: Galerie L'Epoque, Galerie Charpentier, Galerie Bosc, Galerie Passali and in London at the Renel Gallery.
His works are characterized by a measured use of matter; Dobrinsky lays out light layers of color, loading more the brush stroke in the definition of the silhouettes thus making the work very aerial and extremely spontaneous.
His works are characterized by a measured use of matter; Dobrinsky lays out light layers of color, loading more the brush stroke in the definition of the silhouettes thus making the work very aerial and extremely spontaneous.
Orphaned at the age of seven, he entered a Jewish school and later moved to Kiev. He began modelling terracotta sculptures and enrolled in the Sabatovski School of Art, working in a box factory.
In 1912 he arrived in Paris where he was warmly welcomed by the sculptor Marek Szwarc. He settled at the phalanx of the "Ruche" dividing the study with Chaïm Soutine. A year later Dobrinsky fell ill and was forced to leave the sculpture for painting. He began to exhibit his paintings at the Salons of Paris: Salon de la Società des Beaux Arts, des Tuileries, des Indépendants, d'Automne.
In 1914 he joined the Foreign Legion, but was exonerated for health reasons. Back in Paris, he attended the Académie Colarossi and met Vera Kremer, whom he married in 1926. Since 1930 he has had important solo exhibitions in Paris: Galerie L'Epoque, Galerie Charpentier, Galerie Bosc, Galerie Passali and in London at the Renel Gallery.
His works are characterized by a measured use of matter; Dobrinsky lays out light layers of color, loading more the brush stroke in the definition of the silhouettes thus making the work very aerial and extremely spontaneous.
In 1938 Waldemar George wrote about him in "Beaux Arts": "One may wonder how he conveys the sensations of life and how he animates a body or a face. Dobrinsky has no established procedures. He records and externalizes the visual emotions he feels. [... ] Frank tones, and above all red of a very rare quality, illuminate his paintings of which you love the sweet melancholy, the discreet eloquence and the intimate atmosphere".
After living for twenty-seven years at the "Ruche" Dobrinsky moves to Rue d'Odessa. In 1942 he left the capital to take refuge in Bergerac; in this period he devoted himself mainly to portraits, many of them depicting his son Joseph. After his release he returned to Paris.
Between 1947 and 1948, Serge and Rachel Pludermacher opened the Maison-Lafitte school for the children of deported Jews, and Dobrinsky was asked to paint their portraits. For many years he went there every day in order to finish his commitment. The portraits he creates are very intense and delicate; with a quick and precise stroke he performs, already with color, the study of faces. In the eyes of every child, Dobrinsky is able to grasp every wound he has suffered internally; through painting he can investigate and dig deep into the soul, without fully revealing the drama of lost innocence but letting it leak discreetly, to protect the dignity of each individual.
Dobrinsky also leaves a vast corpus of drawings, of fundamental importance for understanding his research; for more complex compositions he creates an overall scheme that then reports on canvas or cardboard. In the last years of his life the artist stayed in Paris with the painter Lubitch at Mme Herkulan; many of his drawings were made on the letterhead of the laboratory owned by the latter.
Museums:
Boulogne-Billancourt, Municipal Museum
Paris, Museum of Modern Art
New York, Usa, Jewish Museum
Bibliography:
N. Nieszawer, M. Boyé - P. Fogel, Peintres Juif à Paris, Ecole de Paris, Editions Denoël, Paris, 2000
© Isaac Dobrinsky, by SIAE 2023
In 1912 he arrived in Paris where he was warmly welcomed by the sculptor Marek Szwarc. He settled at the phalanx of the "Ruche" dividing the study with Chaïm Soutine. A year later Dobrinsky fell ill and was forced to leave the sculpture for painting. He began to exhibit his paintings at the Salons of Paris: Salon de la Società des Beaux Arts, des Tuileries, des Indépendants, d'Automne.
In 1914 he joined the Foreign Legion, but was exonerated for health reasons. Back in Paris, he attended the Académie Colarossi and met Vera Kremer, whom he married in 1926. Since 1930 he has had important solo exhibitions in Paris: Galerie L'Epoque, Galerie Charpentier, Galerie Bosc, Galerie Passali and in London at the Renel Gallery.
His works are characterized by a measured use of matter; Dobrinsky lays out light layers of color, loading more the brush stroke in the definition of the silhouettes thus making the work very aerial and extremely spontaneous.
In 1938 Waldemar George wrote about him in "Beaux Arts": "One may wonder how he conveys the sensations of life and how he animates a body or a face. Dobrinsky has no established procedures. He records and externalizes the visual emotions he feels. [... ] Frank tones, and above all red of a very rare quality, illuminate his paintings of which you love the sweet melancholy, the discreet eloquence and the intimate atmosphere".
After living for twenty-seven years at the "Ruche" Dobrinsky moves to Rue d'Odessa. In 1942 he left the capital to take refuge in Bergerac; in this period he devoted himself mainly to portraits, many of them depicting his son Joseph. After his release he returned to Paris.
Between 1947 and 1948, Serge and Rachel Pludermacher opened the Maison-Lafitte school for the children of deported Jews, and Dobrinsky was asked to paint their portraits. For many years he went there every day in order to finish his commitment. The portraits he creates are very intense and delicate; with a quick and precise stroke he performs, already with color, the study of faces. In the eyes of every child, Dobrinsky is able to grasp every wound he has suffered internally; through painting he can investigate and dig deep into the soul, without fully revealing the drama of lost innocence but letting it leak discreetly, to protect the dignity of each individual.
Dobrinsky also leaves a vast corpus of drawings, of fundamental importance for understanding his research; for more complex compositions he creates an overall scheme that then reports on canvas or cardboard. In the last years of his life the artist stayed in Paris with the painter Lubitch at Mme Herkulan; many of his drawings were made on the letterhead of the laboratory owned by the latter.
Museums:
Boulogne-Billancourt, Municipal Museum
Paris, Museum of Modern Art
New York, Usa, Jewish Museum
Bibliography:
N. Nieszawer, M. Boyé - P. Fogel, Peintres Juif à Paris, Ecole de Paris, Editions Denoël, Paris, 2000
© Isaac Dobrinsky, by SIAE 2023
