Symche Trachter
We present today's painting thanks to the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw. Thank you!
Trachter probably painted this charming landscape after returning from Paris in 1929. In his distinctive way, the artist painted the buildings of the small town fitting smoothly into the rural scenery. The crooked houses seem on the verge of collapsing. Some are hidden behind hills, other are entirely visible. The focal point of the painting is the off-white house with the porch. Two people are going into it, but Trachter only sketched them with a few brushstrokes. The blue shutters stand out against the white walls.
On the left side is a brown house. As in other parts of the composition, the hue is a combination of many different color patches, not only shades of brown. The dark green of the bushes, trees, and grass seems to enfold the houses. The cloudy sky above encloses the composition.
The artist applied the impasto technique, especially when painting dirt, trees, and the sky. Light reflects in the paint strokes and gives the painting life. By using this technique and by painting the houses as crooked and lopsided, the artist was able to make this somewhat banal theme very dynamic. In this aspect, he is similar to another Jewish painter whose works he may have seen in Paris, Chaim Soutine. This and other paintings by Trachter can be found on the Delet Portal delet.jhi.pl.
P.S. Here you can learn more about Chaim Soutine and his New York exhibition.