A Collector's Perspective: The Masterpieces of Oscar Gez

Oscar Ghez's collection accurately captures the diversity, vitality, and complexity of the rich, vibrant, creative, and daring artistic landscape from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. Oscar Ghez not only identified the main trends of modernity but also knew how to capture the turning points in which painting created a new language.

The exhibition called “The Views of a Collector” Regards of a collector Held at the Commune – Art Center Caumont Art Centre In Aix-en-Provence, from November 2025 to March 2026, it brought together nearly sixty exciting works of art from the private museum founded by Oscar Gez in Geneva. The museum has been closed to the public since Oscar Gez's death, but the works it continues to house are used for exhibitions in other museums, to the delight of visitors. The exhibition at the Commune offered a fascinating journey through time, through the history of art, from Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism to Cubism via Fauvism, Decorative Arts (which the members of the Nabi Group celebrated) and the School of Paris.

The collection as a whole provides a broad picture of the avant-garde movements of modern painting. Oscar Gez's taste led him particularly towards a "modern figurative tradition," according to art critic Georges Peillex, and illustrates the influence that many of the painters in his collection had on the development of art.

“Each of the artists on display contributed to the history of contemporary art, some through technique, some through sensitivity or a personal, perhaps naive, way of expression in the face of nature. But all were honest and described from the heart what their eyes saw,” emphasized Oscar Gass. In addition to their artistic value, the works, collected over the years, testify to the collector’s originality, which gave rise to his passion, curiosity, sensitivity and high-quality personality as a human being with lofty goals.

Thirty-eight artists were exhibited in Aix-en-Provence, a favorite of Oscar Gass, who was not interested in well-known artists but in those who were neglected in his time, in women who were then marginalized and disadvantaged, and in persecuted minorities, mainly Jews. Oscar Gass knew how to identify talents among those artists and female artists who did not achieve success, and history vindicated him. A Jew himself and persecuted for this reason in dark times, it is likely that Oscar Gass identified with those who encountered difficulties despite their virtues, which he knew how to read immediately, unlike others, with his intuitive and sharp eye.

Watch a short video, which provides a glimpse into the various movements represented in the exhibition halls.

Who was Oscar Gass?

Oscar Gez was born in 1905 in the city of Sousse, on the eastern coast of Tunisia. As a child, from the age of three, he collected shells, Roman oil lamps and coins. He later continued his father's stamp collection. Oscar was the son of the Tunisian Jewish industrialist Angelo Gez and his Italian wife, Corinne di Castelnuovo, a native of Florence and the daughter of Baron Jacquemusו The Castelnuovo, born in Livorno, son of a Jewish merchant family.

The Baron was the personal physician of King Vittorio Emanuele II and the royal court, a diplomat, politician, member of parliament, Italian patriot, businessman, and activist for the Jewish community in Tunis. Oscar Gez's uncle, Arturo di Castelnuovo, was also a member of the Italian parliament. Oscar's brother was named Henri, and his sisters were named Odette and Kati.

In 1915 the family left Tunisia and moved to Marseille. Oscar attended the Saint-Charles High School before being accepted to the Ecole Supérieure de l'Economie. After graduating from this school in 1922, he obtained a doctorate in economics in Rome.

In 1922, Oscar and his brother Henri, a chemical engineer, opened a factory near Rome to manufacture rubber parts, which was very successful. Due to Mussolini's anti-Semitic race laws, the brothers, Jewish immigrants, were forced to leave Italy, but first they managed to negotiate a replacement for their factory with a factory of the tire manufacturer Pirelli, near Lyon. In this factory, Oscar and his brother produced boots and tubes, the first to do so using the conveyor belt method, thus increasing their profits and amassing a significant fortune.

In 1937, Oscar Gez married Nella Treves, from Turin, the sister of the painter Dario Treves. In 1939, Oscar and Nella's only son, Claude, was born in Geneva. That same year, due to World War II, the family fled, via Spain and Portugal, to the United States, where Oscar Gez worked for the Pentagon as an advisor on Italian affairs and, as part of his role, participated in planning the landing of American forces in that country.

In 1945, after a four-year stay in New York, they returned to Europe and Oscar began to frequent antique shops, auction houses, galleries, and museums. During this period, his interest in art was discovered, and ten years later he began to acquire his first paintings and assemble his collection.

While Oscar ran the factory, his brother Henri oversaw the development of new products for which he patented them. In the 50s, Oscar was beset by three tragedies: the death of his brother and partner of thirty years, Henri, in 1954, the death of his wife Nella after a long illness in 1955, and the death of his mother, Corinne, to whom he was particularly attached, in 1959.

Oscar continued to run the company alone, but the deaths of his loved ones forced him to put an end to it. In 1960, he sold the factory, which he no longer found interesting, to devote himself to art collecting, in which he found a cure for his pain. What had been a hobby became a passion. Oscar Gez acquired five thousand works over forty years. All the important movements, from 1870 to 1930, are represented in the collection, one of the most important in the field of modern art.

Among the first artists whose works he bought were 19th-century French painters, such as Jean-Jacques Henner, followed by painters from the two centers of artistic activity in Paris that became mythical, Montmartre וMontparnasse, such as Théophile Steinlen, Foujita, Toulouse-Lautrec, Chaim Soutine Chaïm Soutine, Auguste Renoir, Louis Valtat, and more. Oscar Gez knew many of them personally and sometimes even purchased the entire contents of their studio, at a discounted price. He bought Caillebotte’s “Bridge of Europe” for pennies…

Oscar Gez was interested in artists who were then little appreciated in the market but would later become central figures in art history, such as Gustave Caillebotte, Frédéric Bazille, and Maximilien Luce. Gez was also among the first to recognize the value of the Impressionist Marie Bracquemond and the Cubist Maria Blanchard. Gez paid great attention to nationalist artists, who are well represented in the exhibition: Jeanne Hébuterne, Nathalie Kraemer, Suzanne Valadon, Marie Laurencin, Tamara de Lempicka, and the Russian Marevna are honored stars.

Here is a list of some of the painters whose works Oscar Gez bought (the names of those who were shown in the exhibition in the Commune, Aix-en-Provence, are in bold):

Albert ANDRÉ, Charles ANGRAND, André BAUCHANT, Maurice BARRAUD, Jean-Frédéric BAZILLE, Madeleine BERLY-VlAMINCK, Emile BERNARD, Abel Bertram, María BLANCHARD, Camille BOMBOIS, Rodolphe-Théophile BOSSHARD, George BOTTINI, Marie BRACQUEMOND, Theodore BUTLER, Gustave CAILLEBOTTE, Charles CAMOIN, Pierre CARRIER-BELLEUSE, Paul CÉZANNE, Auguste CHABAUD, Marc CHAGALL, Jean-Baptiste COROT, Henri-Edmond CROSS, Edgar DEGAS, Maurice DENIS, André DERAIN, Ferdinand DESNOS, Georges d'ESPAGNAT, Albert DUBOIS-PILLET, Roland DUBUC, Raoul Dufy, Giancarlo DUGHETTI, Pierre DUMONT, Henri FANTIN-LATOUR, André FAVORY, Aizik FEDER, Jean-Louis FORAIN, Tsuguharu (Léonard) FOUJITA, Othon FRIESZ, Tullio GARBARI, Paul GAUGUIN, Léo GAUSSON, Wilhelm GIMMI, Charles GIRON, Albert GLEIZE, Édouard GOERG, Friedrich Karl GOTSCH, Emmanuel GONDOUIN, Armand GUILLAUMIN, Louis HAYET, Jeanne HÉBUTERNE, Jean-Jacques HENNER, Henri-Gabriel IBELS, Max JACOB, Georges KARS, Moïse KISSLING, Nathalie KRAEMER, Michel KIKOÏNE, Pinchus KREMEGNE, Georges LACOMBE, Dominique LAGRU, Jean LAMBERT-RUCKI, Louis LATAPIE, Michaïl LARIONOV, Achille LAUGÉ, Marie LAURENCIN, Louis LEGRAND, Georges LEMMEN, Tamara DE LEMPICKA, Marcel LEPRIN, André LHOTE, Gustave LOISEAU, Séraphine LOUIS, Maximilien LUCE, Jean LURÇAT, Emmanuel MANÉ-KATZ, Edouard MANET, MAREVNA, Henri MANGUIN, Albert MARQUET, Henri MARTIN, Maxime MAUFRA, Alexis MÉRODACK-JEANEAU, Jean METZINGER, Henry MORET, Georges PAPAZOFF, Eugène PAUL, Jules PASCIN, Jean PESKÉ, Francis PICABIA, Pablo Picasso, Francisque POULBOT, Jean POUGNY, Jean PUY, Alphonse QUIZET, Paul RANSON, Auguste RENOIR, Jeanne RIJROUSSEAU, Henri ROUSSEAU, Ker-Xavier ROUSSEL, Arthur SEGAL, Paul SERUSIER, Paul SIGNAC, Chaïm SOUTINE, Théophile-Alexandre STEINLEN, Leopold SURVAGE, Nicolas TARKHOFF, Dario TREVES, Maurice UTRILLO, André UTTER, Suzanne VALADON, Félix VALLOTTON, Louis VALTAT, Henry VAN DE VELDE, Kees VAN DONGEN, Johan VAN HELL, Théo VAN RYSSELBERGHE, Adolphe Léon WILLETTE, Jean VIOLLIER, Édouard VUILLARD, Ossip ZADKIN

Stanlen was the first artist whose work Oscar Gez bought, a painting called “July 14th in Montmartre 1895,” as he himself testified in 1993 in Le Journal de Genève and La Gazette de Lausanne:

I could see those characters, hear them singing, the lanterns, at night. It's a lovely painting that still hangs in my office.

This was the first swallow after which Oscar Gez acquired over six hundred more works by Stanlen, the artist from Montmartre, who, like the collector, set himself the goal of helping the neglected, the invisible, the transparent and thus making the world a better place, with the help of art. Stanlen was a mobilized artist who came out against the living conditions of the disadvantaged and the underprivileged, the workers and the sex workers. Gez, like Stanlen, contributed greatly to artists who were ignored by the general public, other collectors and art critics. These artists, such as, for example, Gustave Caillebotte and Louis Valette, gained their fame, during their lifetimes or posthumously, largely thanks to Gez's intervention. Gez also set himself the goal of helping women artists break out of the walls of gender imprisonment. Stanlen and Gez came out, each in his own way, against the injustice they saw before their eyes.

All this led to the lofty ideal of Stanlen, who spent his whole life trying to do good. Oscar Gez, like him, mobilized his wealth, time and energy to improve the world. “Harnessing art in the service of peace,” was the motto of Oscar Gez, who believed that “the universal language of the arts can be a basis for action to bring peoples closer together.” The presentation of his collected works in various museums around the world goes in this direction.

In the late 1950s, Oscar's sister began writing a catalogue of the works he had acquired. This now focused on the period between the late 19th and mid-20th centuries but eschewed abstract art in favor of painters such as Louis Valtat and Charles Angrand.

Oscar Gez also specifically sought out works by Jewish artists who came to Paris from Central and Eastern Europe and settled there between the two world wars. These artists were forgotten after 1945, and in 1978 Gez donated 137 works by 18 of them toThe Hecht Museum at Haifa University To maximize their exposure. A large number of them perished in the Holocaust.

Gez's collection continued to grow and was exposed to the public through a series of exhibitions in Turin, Annecy, Besançon, Tel Aviv, Vevey, Geneva, Charleroi, Tokyo, Le Creusot, Paris. In 1965, Oscar Gez purchased a villa in Geneva, on the outskirts of the old town, a 19th-century mansion designed by local architect Samuel Darier. The goal was to turn it into a museum with a permanent display of his collections in order to share his passion with the public.

And so it was. In 1967, he expanded the originally two-story building to six stories, three of which were underground. Excavation work revealed remains of Geneva's ancient city walls, which were incorporated into the exhibition spaces. The renovation was led by local architect Christian Hunzike, while the interior design was entrusted to Frenchman Max Ingrand.

On November 18, 1968, Oscar Gez inaugurated the Petit Palais Museum, literally: The Little Palace Museum the Petit Palais museum In this villa he regularly organized art exhibitions while gradually expanding his collections. Five floors were used for exhibitions while the third basement floor was used as a storage area for works of art. Twenty thousand to thirty thousand visitors visited the Oscar Gez Museum every year, from 1968 to 2000.

“To help visitors appreciate painters who were previously unknown but of undeniable talent” was one of the goals of opening Gez’s private museum. Indeed, in addition to masterpieces by well-known artists, Pablo Picasso, Édouard Manet, Raoul Dufy, Édouard Vuillard, the collection on display also included works by artists who until recent years “had remained unjustly unknown,” in Gez’s words. Thus he provided them with an opportunity for recognition after their death. Those who had pushed them to the margins, Gez brought them to the center.

In 1970, to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, the museum hosted an exhibition called “Art in the Service of Peace.” Beginning in 1983, exhibitions were also held outside the museum’s walls, in Japan, France, Germany, the United States, Spain, Italy, and Canada.

In 1972, after nearly twenty years as a widow, Oscar married Nicole Finkelstein, who was his right-hand man in his artistic activities and played an important role in the management of the museum. The museum received visitors for nearly thirty years until it closed in 2000, but continues to lend, very generously, paintings for temporary exhibitions in active museums.

Oscar Gez received many international awards. In France, he was appointed a Knight of the Legion of Honor and received the decoration of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters. In Italy, he was appointed a Commendatore della Repubblica, received an honorary doctorate from the University of Haifa, and five years before his death, he received from the city, where he spent many vacations in his childhood and youth and where he later chose to live as a graduate, the more prestigious medal “Geneva reconnaissante” (Geneva Grateful).

Oscar Gez died on February 20, 1998, at the age of 93, in his hometown of Geneva. In 2000, the museum was closed to the public for financial reasons (high cost of renovations to comply with building codes), but his son, Claude Gez, professor of neuroscience at Columbia University in New York, manages the collections and presents them in international exhibitions: Paris 2003, Rotterdam 2004, Quebec 2006, Ludwig 2007, Athens 2008, Jena (Germany) 2008, Lausanne 2024-2025, Aix-en-Provence 2025-2026.

The exhibition in Aix-en-Provence

I was lucky and had the privilege of visiting the exhibition. It was one of the most impressive exhibitions I have ever seen in my life. It was an exciting afternoon worth living for. In awe, almost ecstatic, I moved from one painting to another. It was the last day of the exhibition and there were not many people. Absolute pleasure.

Every work in the exhibition is worth considering and analyzing, but I cannot, of course, write about them all. For those interested, I recommend Exhibition Catalog which is for sale. And here is a link to Exhibition page On Common's website, which provides photographs of the works. And before I throw out my impressions of some paintings that particularly impressed me, here's a short video that will put you in the magical atmosphere I'm still in.

Impressionism

The exhibition opened in the halls dedicated to the Impressionists. Two huge works at the beginning of the exhibition route particularly caught my attention, “The Glory of Cats in Montmartre” by Théophile-Alexandre Stanlen and “The Bridge of Europe” by Gustave Caillebotte. I was not familiar with the first, the second I had already seen in the exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay, “Caillebotte, peindre les hommes,” which ran from October 2024 to January 2025. I also saw it on the last day.

I stood, mesmerized, in front of the amazing painting, “The Glory of Cats in Montmartre,” a decorative panel designed to decorate the famous cabaret in Montmartre, “החתול השחור” (Le Chat Noir), which Stanlen was very active in promoting. The silhouettes of the painted cats refer to the successful shadow theater of the cabaret, marionettes cut from zinc and operated by talented buffoons, but Stanlen gives the cats in this painting a devilish aspect. He sees a threatening gathering of cats in Montmartre, listening to the speech of their leader. The Seine River, the bridges of Paris and the hill of Montmartre are recognizable. A real revolution to conquer and take over the capital.

The cats raise their eyes to the speaker (I was thinking of the speeches of the greatest tyrants in history), who is crowned with the full moon. And here the painting connects to the witches' sabbath, a medieval expression describing a nocturnal meeting in a high place of sorcerers and witches with the devil. However, here the sorcerers and witches have been replaced by silhouettes of cats, seen from behind, with their tails and ears reminiscent of The image of the devil, as it has been depicted in drawings and paintings since time immemorial.

A painting that brings together myth and history and is presented in the form of a parable in which cats symbolize demons and humans alike. This is human evil that finds expression in a gathering of cats, who wander after a dark leader, who is shown, ironically, elevated above the people and adorned with the halo of saints.

The irony is also expressed in the choice of the title of the work, L'apothéose des chats, The Glory of Cats. The French word apothéose, which means deification, i.e. raising a person to the rank of god, indicates, like the light surrounding the speaker, in the language of the poet, the complete opposite. It is not apotheosis that is meant, but demonization, demonization in simple terms, real demonization. Humans can become demons. There are many examples in history and many examples in current events.

Gustave Caillebotte’s “Bridge of Europe,” in which I feel loneliness and alienation, in the faces of the characters and in the dominant dark tones, made me sad. I connect less with Caillebotte’s gray city with its burgundy, parasols, and umbrellas, but I hear your cries, “Caillebotte is a great painter.” And indeed, there is no argument, there is no argument, Caillebotte is a revolutionary and brilliant painter. But I, personally, like to look at his rural paintings, which are happier. One of them, very famous, is “Father Magloire on the Road to Saint-Clair in Etretat.” Father Magloire sur le chemin de Saint Clair à Etretat, was hanging in the exhibition near the “Europe Bridge” and made me tremble even more.

I was looking, therefore, for an art critic who would illuminate “The Bridge of Europe,” the exhibition’s flagship painting, which graces the cover of its catalog, with his educated insights. That’s how I found The video of the art historian and director of the Dorset Museum's collection, Paul Perrin, upon whom I based my explanations.

Gustave Caillebotte, one of the greatest Impressionists, showed the modernism of urban Paris in an innovative way. “The Bridge of Europe” is one of his masterpieces. Caillebotte chose a large format that had been used for historical paintings until then, and here comes this original artist and replaces the historical subject with a scene of everyday life in the changing and developing city under the scepter of Baron Haussmann.

The painting shows the Pont de l'Europe, a relatively new structure, built in 1863, metallic, as if industrial, over the railway tracks of the Saint-Lazare station. On the right side, under the bridge, you see trains, on the left, the old world, horse-drawn carriages. And the bridge, as its name suggests, is a bridge between worlds, between spaces, between people.

Caillebotte lived near the bridge at the time, in a townhouse on Rue de Miromesnil, at the corner of Rue de Lisbonne, and often passed by it on his way to Place de Clichy, Pigalle, and Batignolles, to visit his artist friends, who were working on their works or hanging out in the cafes. This was a new Paris being built before his eyes, but also, therefore, an intimate Paris. Caillebotte painted from his personal experiences.

This is, even more, an autobiographical work in which Caillebotte depicts himself in the center of the picture, wearing a top hat, decorated with a black crepe ribbon, as a sign of mourning for the death of his brother René. A self-portrait as a bourgeois strolling on the bridge in the company of a woman, a bourgeois like him or a courtesan. And Caillebotte shows not only his self-portrait in this painting, but also his views, his social vision in which class gaps are narrowing.

In the foreground of the painting, a worker is shown leaning on the bridge and looking at the trains passing under him. The worker is not depicted working, but pondering and dreaming, observing, and has a central place in the painting. He is no less important than the bourgeois in the image of the painter himself. Like Caillebotte, the worker also thinks about the sight of Paris, which appears before him. Like Caillebotte, the worker also works with his hands. A hidden thread connects the bourgeois and the worker. Another worker, older, is represented in the background, walking behind the woman. Each worker is a person in his own right, each worker with his own uniqueness.

In the background of the painting we see a soldier, the embodiment of masculinity in the 19th century, a world that did not give much essential space to women. Only one woman appears clearly in the painting, as if to remind us that public space was reserved mainly for men. The men came and went as they pleased, the women were required to be accompanied by a male guardian, and if they did not fulfill this condition, they were suspected of bad habits. Some art scholars see the woman as a courtesan, who entices the man to her side. Her mouth is actually closed, but perhaps she has just finished speaking. And the man beside her, is he looking at the woman next to him or at the man leaning on the bridge railing?

Where did the decisive sexual orientation of Caillebotte the painter and his painted character go? The game of mirrors between the bourgeois and the worker perhaps reflects, in addition to his ideal of social equality, his sexual preference for men. What does his sexual preference matter, some of you will surely ask me. And I will answer that I am very interested in the lives of the artists I write about, and this aspect is included in the package.

A mysterious and ambivalent painting despite the accuracy in every detail. There is a story here that begins and does not end. This is Caybut's way of leaving the story open. This is Caybut's way of bringing details to the smallest detail from close up and far away. Caybut's paintings are so precise and their angles are so extraordinary that it is impossible not to compare them to photographs (it is very possible that this painting was made from a photograph). The way in which the painter processed the perspective using two Vanishing points, worthy of a contemporary film scene. The primary vanishing point is above the bourgeois's head and the secondary vanishing point above the worker's head, all of this contrary to the laws of perspective, which creates a diagonal effect, emphasized by the bridge beams.

And what can be said about the dog, which is in the foreground of the picture, in front of all the human figures, and leads the viewer forward on the bridge? Does it also have its own point of view, hidden, even more hidden than that of the representatives of the various classes? A more playful reading points to its erect tail, a phallic symbol, which splits in two and bites the worker's left leg, and to the gaze of the bourgeois, the painter's character, who squints at the buttocks of that same worker, who is leaning on the bridge. Hints to the painter's homosexuality, according to these interpretations. For those interested in the direction, I recommend Article file Edited and published by American art historian Norma Braud, it can be read freely online.

And later I see an Impressionist painter who is considered on a par with Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt – Marie Braquemont. “The three great Impressionists,” they are called. About Bert Morisot I wrote a detailed article, the Mary Cassatt I know her and have seen an exhibition of hers, but this is the first time I have heard of Marie Braquemont. Because she suffered, like other artists of her time, from a lack of models, she painted her sister twice as if she were two women, according to the explanation next to the painting. Marie Braquemont, “On the Terrace in Sèvres” Marie Bracquemond, Sur la terrasse à Sèvres.

A painting that surprised and even hurt me was a portrait of Berthe Morisot by Edouard Manet, which I saw for the first time, even though I wrote Detailed article About the relationship between the two artists.

The portrait presents Berthe Morisot as a wandering figure, her face blurred and partially covered in black. I stood, awestruck, before this mysterious portrait of Berthe in mourning, in a black veiled hat, as if walking towards death. The year in which Manet painted this portrait was actually a good period in Berthe Morisot's life, which preceded her transition to brighter paintings and her marriage to Édouard Manet's brother, if we do not take into account the impact of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and the destruction of her studio in the Passy neighborhood. Édouard Manet was very depressed because of the war and because of the illness that took its toll on him.

Auguste Renoir was not spared health problems either. In his later years, he suffered from arthritis that forced him to paint with brushes attached to his fingers. This is how he painted this portrait of the poet Alice Vallier-Merzbach, which demonstrates the artist's great virtuosity, even under these conditions, especially in drawing the folds of the dress.

Oscar Gez had a real fondness for portraits and Auguste Renoir described himself as a “painter of figures”! Which explains the acquisition of this important work, in the style of Ingres and Rubens, whom Renoir sought to emulate at the end of his career.

Neo-Impressionism

From Impressionists to Neo-Impressionists and in this section, I stood, mesmerized, in front of Maximilian Loos’ “Steel Factory.” Another gigantic painting, this time by the anarchist artist who defended workers’ rights. In 1895, Maximilian Loos was invited by a couple of friends to Belgium and visited a steel factory in Charleroi. This experience was an artistic revelation for him. The following year, he returned to the area and painted many paintings inspired by the scenes he saw in the steel production facilities. This is one of them.

In this impressive painting, workers stand in front of a furnace melting steel. A group of three of them fan the terrifying flames, note the monster on the left that seems to threaten to descend the ladder. Who is this mythological creature, born from the fire? Perhaps the evil of the bourgeois world, the new industrialists who quickly became rich starting in 1870 on the backs of exploited workers, perhaps evil in general, each with its own interpretation. The monster sends its claws forward, preparing to devour.

The three workers, beyond the safety railing, by the fire, seem like mythological heroes, representatives of Hephaestus, the god of blacksmithing. Four others watch the vision, as if at a painting in an exhibition, astonished, amazed. Two of them seem indifferent, tired, victims of hard labor forced upon them. Each of the workers has his own rest and his own position.

To magnify the erupting fire and the workers in front of it, Loos used Divisionism, a painting technique that consists of placing small dots of pure colors side by side on the canvas, instead of mixing them on the palette. This method, adopted by the Neo-Impressionist painters, creates shades that are ultimately perceived by the viewer as an optical illusion. Through this new painting technique, the recruited painters, led by Maximilian Loos, testify to their time, its shortcomings and injustices.

The contrast between the work, located in a steel factory facing a blazing, dangerous fire and the artist's deep feelings regarding the difficult working conditions of the workers represented in it, and Maurice Denis's painting, "Homework," is striking. Holiday homework, showing the protected and refined world of a bourgeois family in a well-designed, soft and cozy home.

Also on display are Neo-Impressionist masterpieces not by the leaders, Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, but by lesser-known ones, for example, Henri-Edmond Cross, “Nocturne or Nocturne with Cypress Trees,” Nocturne ou Nocturne aux cyprès, Théo Van Rysselberghe, “Portrait of the Kinneret Irma Seth” Théo Van Rysselberghe, Portrait of the violinist Irma SètheCharles Angrand, “The Seine at Dawn” The Seine at dawn.

Felix Velutton – Louis Velta, a dialogue between opposites

Felix Velutton and Louis Valetta, who were friends but chose different and even opposing painting methods, engage in a visual dialogue, similar to those favored by Oscar Gez. Felix Velutton preferred to flatten smooth spaces of color, Louis Valetta preferred to break up the color in a more fragmented way than the Impressionists and more dynamic than the Neo-Impressionists.

Although I wrote about Felix and LottoA detailed article, his paintings that were displayed in the exhibition were not familiar to me. After all, one of them.

Phobism

And again, as in his representation of the Neo-Impressionists, Oscar Gez did not choose, to represent Fauvism, its famous leaders, Henri Matisse and André Derain, but rather the painters of the periphery whose fame had grown since he had acquired their works, for example, Henri Manguin, Nude on a Blue Sofa, Anita Champagne, Nu au canapé bleu, Anita Champagne, Charles Camoin, the young Neapolitan Charles Camoin, La jeune napolitane, August Chabo, “The Moulin Rouge, at Night” Auguste Chabaud, Moulin Rouge, la nuit.

I also stood, awed, in front of the symbolic work “Clown with a Blue Ball” by Alexis Marrodac-Janoux, a unique figure in the French avant-garde, who was influenced by the ideas of the Order of the Rose Cross.

The clown as a metaphor for the artist's condition. The sculptural body and head stand out against the abstract background. The ball in the clown's hand connects to the rounded shapes in the background and creates a contrast to all the points around him, the narrow, diagonal eyes, the nose, the lips, the hairstyle, the thin fingers, and the lines of the cloak. A clown with a gloomy gaze, whose gender is unclear, his strangeness is slightly frightening.

Decorative Arts (Navi)

My paintings Omni Navajo I recognize immediately thanks toDetailed article which I dedicated to them. And so I stood, awed, in front of Georges Lacombe’s gigantic painting, “The Periods of Life.” A typical theme of the group, but this was the first time I had seen this painting. The painting had been commissioned by Georges Lacombe’s future mother-in-law, a patron of the arts from Versailles, who appreciated her son-in-law’s talents. And so, in 1894, Lacombe painted the four periods of life or the four corresponding seasons to decorate the city mansion of the brilliant hostess.

The front of the impressive painting is illuminated while its back is dark blue. On the right, a girl kneels, a bouquet of flowers in her hand. Her eyes are closed and her head bowed in silent prayer. The next stage is a relationship. The eyes of the pregnant woman, supported by her partner, remain closed. It is a kind of mystical silent dance. On the left, the woman holds the hand of the child she has just born. And in the background of the picture, under the dark blue trees that connect earth and sky, we notice three hunched figures, supported by a stick, merging with the trees, on their way to infinity.

The bouquet of flowers in the girl's hands corresponds with the light bushes, which attract the boy's attention. The dreams of the girl, who became a beautiful mother, have come true. But a sad atmosphere pervades the entire painting, which seems to translate the anguish of approaching death. The girl, a girl, a woman, her eyes are always closed, as if hinting that life passes like a dream. And also a hint to the rich inner world of the character. But soon she will cover herself with a blue hood and disappear into the fields of eternity. The girl, her partner and their offspring will become three disappearing blue figures.

Perhaps Georges Lacombe felt that he would not remain on earth for long. The beginning was actually a good sign. Georges Lacombe was born in 1868 in Versailles, into a wealthy bourgeois family, to intellectual and artistic parents. His father, a journalist and poet, goldsmith and sculptor, taught him woodcarving and his mother, a multidisciplinary artist, taught him drawing, painting and engraving.

His marriage in 1897 to Marthe Wenger, who became his model, would also secure his material future. Marthe was the daughter of an important and brilliant socialite in Versailles, Gabrielle Wenger. Gabrielle was a prominent figure in Versailles' artistic circles and a professional pianist. She hosted artists from the area and from Paris and organized concerts and other cultural events. This is how Georges Lacombe, who participated in the social, artistic and sporting activities of Versailles, met her and her daughter. The wedding was an event that brought together celebrities, artists and politicians and was documented in the local newspaper L'Écho de Versailles.

Gabriel supported her son-in-law and commissioned paintings, sculptures, and decorations from him for her urban mansion. The four walnut bedsteads are well-known and famous, “conception","Birth","existence"And"Death", which she ordered from him. The sculptures are also known "Isis"And"Mary Magdalene"which she purchased from him. I highly recommend that you take the time to look at each and every one of these magnificent works, which inspire admiration and uplift the soul.

Even when the couple, Georges and Martha, left Versailles after their marriage and moved to Normandy, their close relationship with Gabriel did not break. In 1892, the year he painted “The Periods of Life,” Georges joined the Navi movement. He spent five crucial years with the group. A loyal member of the brotherhood, he housed the Navi Paul Ranson, whose health was failing, at his Normandy castle, Château de l’Ermitage, in the town of Saint Nicolas des Bois, near Alençon. Lacombe commissioned four decorative panels from him for the entrance hall of the castle.

Paul Ranson remained to live in Georges Lacombe's château for six years. In 1905 he returned home and continued his activities, supported by the Brotherhood of the Nave, who founded an academy of painting for him and entrusted him with its management. In 1908 he died of typhus at the age of 47.

The fate of Georges Lacombe, who had helped his soulmate so much for years, unexpectedly took a similar turn. With the outbreak of World War I, Georges Lacombe insisted on contributing his share even though he was exempt from conscription and volunteered to help at the hospital in Alençon. Thus, he contracted tuberculosis from soldiers and died in 1916 at the age of 48.

Another notable work, monumental and magnificent, elliptical in shape, in a distinctly Art Deco style, was intended to decorate a tea room that opened after the war and was a huge success after the difficult years. In August 1917, the renowned designer, Francis Jourdain, commissioned three decorative panels from Edouard Viard for the fashionable bar-café (which closed in 1922), and the artist did not disappoint.

Edouard Viard decided to reflect the real space within the painting, and thus the panel is a miniature mirror image of the place. The furniture, the lighting fixtures, the shiny lacquer on the walls, the elegant serving utensils, the women's hats and costumes, all of which make the decorative panel a glowing echo of the place it depicts with its vibrant atmosphere. In the center of the panel, we notice a soldier in a blue uniform, a symbol of rehabilitation and a return to social life and entertainment. The war is over.

Henry Van de Velde, on the other hand, abandoned his early career as a painter in favor of embroidery, goldsmithing, home furnishings, fine furniture, and architecture. “The Haymaker” The Faneuse It is a magnetic painting that also served as a model for a tapestry, thus illustrating the decisive moment when the artist embarked on a new, skyrocketing path.

School of Paris

Between the two world wars, Paris attracted artists from many countries who flocked to take part in its vibrant and free cultural scene. The term “School of Paris” initially referred to the group of French and foreign artists who formed the Parisian avant-garde in the early 20th century outside of Cubism.

I was particularly drawn to the self-portrait of Modigliani's partner, Jeanne Abuterne. Although I wrote Article about the couple, I didn't know her works. What a talent, Jeanne Abuterin was an artist in her own right! When she committed suicide under such tragic circumstances, she also led to the destruction of the works she did not create. This is an impressive self-portrait with motifs from her kimono in the background. I stood, awed, in front of her resolute face, all angles. A decisive angularity that leaves no room for debate.

Jeanne was, however, suicidal even before she met Modigliani, who became her protector. Her brother slept in the same room with her to prevent the worst, but Jeanne took advantage of his deep sleep one morning and jumped to her death. The baby she was carrying died with her.

Until the part “The School of Paris” I managed to forget the horrors of the past and the horrors of the present. The escapism that art brings, and with it the passion, carried me to a blessed oblivion. Oscar Gass’s collecting saved him, in a similar process, from the heavy triple grief. But Jean’s self-portrait plunged me once again into the tragic side of life. Natalie Kramer’s fate continued to plunge me into the bottomless abysses of despair, even these days.

In front of “Woman on a Stool,” I stopped in amazement. The woman’s staring gaze made me sad. Her helpless posture reflected my own feelings. When I read the biography of the painter-poet, I understood the meaning of her facial expression and body language. Did the woman sitting on the stool know how her life would end?

Natalie Kramer was born in the 10th arrondissement of Paris on April 28, 1891, and was deported to Auschwitz, where she was murdered upon arrival, at the age of 52, on December 22, 1943. Her mother was not Jewish and her father's family, who was Jewish, boycotted the couple's wedding. The father died at the age of 31 when Natalie was three.

Natalie Kramer was “discovered” and pulled from obscurity by Oscar Gass, who purchased her paintings in 1973 and donated some of them to the museum at the University of Haifa. After very few details were known about her life, researchers are showing interest in her and her art, and new articles are appearing about her and her short career.

My mood improved as I admired the following works, which glorify feminine beauty:

Suzanne Valadon, nude on a red sofa Suzanne Valadon, Nude on the red sofa 

Moise Kiesling, the haired peonyMoïse Kisling, Larousse

Kees Van Dongen, Portrait of Commodore Doy, Portrait de la Commodore Douilly

And what can we say about the dazzling painting of the daring Tamara de Lempicka, which celebrates her explosive sexual freedom, in a precise Cubist style? Mannerism, Neo-Cubism, Art Deco, which come together to form what is defined as neo-realism, the hallmark of the architect of the female body, drawn with confidence and pride.

Cubism

Gez's collection pays homage to the Cubist revolution that marked a decisive turning point in the history of Western art. Gez did not, however, adhere to pure abstraction and preferred the second generation of Cubists, such as Jean Metzinger, whose painting "The Sphinx"The Sphinx Presented at the exhibition “The Island (Helgoland)” The island (Helgoland) By Arthur Segal, “The City” The city by Léopold Survage, are also present. Two paintings by Picasso close the exhibition, “The Figures” Characters And “The Lost”L'Aubade (A ovada is a song, sung at the window of a loved one at dawn, as opposed to a serenade, sung at dusk).

But I was left speechless in front of a famous painting I didn’t know, “Death and the Woman,” by the painter Marevna, which expresses all the absurdity, cruelty, and ridiculousness of wars. The painting refers to World War I but, unfortunately, is still relevant today and more so than ever because we learn nothing from the horrors of the past.

On either side of a small table, on which is a jug and two glasses, designed as boxes for catching vermin, sits a strange couple. He is a soldier, dressed in uniform, with a medal of valor on his chest. His face is a skull, his gaping mouth reveals terrifying teeth, and metal prosthetics protrude from both sleeves and one of his pants. The woman is wearing a sensual colorful dress, revealing legs covered in fishnet stockings, but her face is covered by a gas mask, erasing her beauty and reducing it to a level of monstrosity, similar to that of the unfortunate soldier. Whose life and what do the couple drink, and how do they spend their time?

The woman is clapping, that is, aware of the tragic situation while the soldier sits like a mechanical doll, devoid of humanity. World leaders treated him as an object and sacrificed him. The checkered floor under the table resembles a chessboard, thus emphasizing the soldier and the woman being pawns in the hands of forces that have taken for themselves the right to kill, mutilate, and destroy. The armchairs and the jug match the design of the floor. It resembles a chessboard, we said, and perhaps a gloomy clown's clothes. What an absurd and ridiculous show of ugliness the war provides in which the civilian population and the army are nothing more than insects in a trap.

Marbena was only twenty-five when she painted this impressive painting, in its historical significance, its technique and its symbolism. It is the First World War and the horrors have been repeated ever since, the same lady in a different coat. Young men are being killed and the home front is being forced to defend itself, with no guarantee of rescue. This work, of a Cubist nature, shows how the First World War shook artists.

Opposing the warmongers are brave artists who fight this evil with the weapon at their disposal, art. And alongside the artists are people like Oscar Gass, who tried to fight wars and promote peace. It is worth noting, on this occasion, that Oscar Gass was not content with purchasing paintings but also worked even harder on behalf of artists in whom he believed. From the early 60s onwards, he not only purchased more than 150 paintings by Marbena, but also tirelessly encouraged her and exhibited her works in France, Switzerland, the United States, Japan and Israel. He also played a central role in organizing the exhibition to mark the centenary of Marbena's birth at the Wildenstein Gallery in London.

This painting, despite its power, did not completely take over my entire being. It left behind memories of other, more humorous paintings. I returned home mesmerized, on another planet. Thanks to the Common Cultural Center, which allowed the general public to view part of Oscar Gass's collection and get to know the great humanist who knew how to recover after uprootings and disasters and made an effort to share his corrective experiences with others.

The article will end with Oscar Gass's answer to a question he was asked in 1995, in an interview he gave to the Tribune des Arts Genève: Why was the Petit Palais founded under the motto "Art in the Service of Peace"?

Because art is a universal language, just like music. Art conveys messages beyond languages.

To see a large number of photographs of the works presented in the exhibition, look at In this link.

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