Yohanan Simon, 
Israeli 1905-1976 - 

Two figures against a blue sky, 1958; 

oil on canvas, signed and dated in Hebrew lower right '58', 35 x 45.7 cm 

Provenance:
Rena Behrman and thence by descent 

Note: 
Rena Behrman (1909-2017) helped to aid the escape of more than 1000 Jewish refugees from Europe to Britain during the Second World War. Items from her collection were donated to the British Museum. 

1958 was an important year for the artist, exhibiting at the Venice Biennale, the Jewish Museum, New York and having a solo exhibition at the O'Hana Gallery in London. From 1954 Simon had travelled widely in Europe and South America, and this experience would be reflected in the more abstracted and sculptural style seen in the present work. This demonstrates not only the artist's engagement with Post-War European figurative painting, but the experience of expansiveness of the South American landscape. 

Born in Germany, Simon studied in Paris in the 1930s with Andre Derain, before moving to Israel in 1937 and becoming part of the Kibbutz Gan Shmuel. His work would reflect the joys of daily life in the Kibbutz, in an monumental style similar to both Diego Riviera and Fernand Leger, and reflecting the artist's socialist ideals. 

In the late 1950s, Simon's work would often depict pastoral scenes, depicting his figures against an expansive sky of pure colour. The simplified, vegetal forms are typical of his work of this period and the traditional headpieces of the figures are possibly those worn by Yemeni Jews, demonstrating Simon's continued interest in local Jewish cultures. Whilst, the figures are no less monumental than his earlier work, these mature works are more simplified and intimate, reflecting the artist's 'affinity between Man and the landscape in which he is routed' (Professor Mordechai Omer, director and curator of Tel Aviv Museum of Art). 

Simon exhibited repeatedly internationally and in London during the 1950s, at the O'Hana Gallery, as well as the Ben Uri Gallery in 1951. Works are in UK collections the Ben Uri Gallery and the British Museum, and major collections worldwide including the Jewish Museum, New York. Recently there was a retrospective dedicated to the artist at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in 2001. 

With thanks to Tali Tamir, curator of ‘Yohanan Simon: Dual Portrait’ at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in 2001.