Three Men Sitting at a Table Fauvist Oil Painting-C. 1955-Israel Louis Winarsky

As a New Jersey painters specialist who offers on eBay the most diverse array of New Jersey’s most highly regarded iconic artists as well as some of the more obscure but significant and deserving past painters including Henry Gasser, Bernard Gussow, John Grabach, Armando Sozio, James Carlin, Gar Sparks, Frank Zuccarelli, Adolf Konrad, Gustave Cimiotti, etc, I am now offering this wonderful 8 1/4 by 10 1/2 inch circa 1955 Fauvist oil painting on paper of three men sitting at a table and painted by Israel Louis Winarsky with exuberant color. It reminds one of the German Expressionists and the Fauves. It is not signed. It has the estate stamp on back. It was one of the many paintings of the artist’s estate that I acquired directly from the estate. It is in very good condition. See the above condition report as well as the photos one of which shows two chips to the bottom border of the paper. It was painted on paper and the paint was fairly thickly applied so the paper is delicate and should be handled with care. It would benefit by being dry-mounted or wet-mounted so that the integrity of the piece might be more easily preserved. It will be shipped for $22 via UPS. See the photos. Known to few in his lifetime, Israel Louis Winarsky epitomizes the discovery of a significant Newark, New Jersey artist. Born in Newark in 1930 of Jewish descent, “Lou” passed his childhood living with his family above his father’s butcher shop first located at 295 and then at 372 Hunterdon Street. His artistic journey began with a gift of crayons, his first childhood memory. He soon became enamored of oils, pastels, watercolors and charcoal. Winarsky attended the local public schools. Between 1944 and 1947, while working part time as a sign painter, he was a student at Weequahic High School. Afterwards, he enrolled at the Newark School of Fine & Industrial Art during the early directorship days of Henry Gasser(1946-1954) and was a student of Samuel Brecher. Later in life he spoke often to his family about Brecher whom Winarsky considered a friend. In 1951 he earned a B.A. in physics from the University of Chicago and then enlisted in the Air Force, serving some time in Korea as a radioman. In 1961, having painted continuously for over ten years, he traveled around Europe on a motor scooter. In France, Italy and Israel he embraced the people, culture and art and recorded some of his thoughts in letters sent back home to his family. Winarsky said of himself, “If you want to know who I am, look at my art, my music and my books.” While music and books were part of Winarsky’s identity, art was his calling. The paintings and drawings of Winarsky reflect emotion, exuberance and insightful character portrayal. His subject matter ranges from powerful holocaust evocations to jubilant nature and urban interpretations to character explorations. The tragic empathy and gravity that are evident in his Semitic character ensembles are counterbalanced by the uplifting vitality of his colorful landscapes, cityscapes, still lives, and harbor scenes. Most of his best oil paintings are vibrant expressions of color and form that resonate beauty and probity. Apropos of Winarsky’s varyingly dynamic, often pure and patterned, sometimes quasi-geometric use of color, one could wonder about Oscar Bluemner’s influence on Winarsky’s vision. Much of Winarsky’s work could be viewed stylistically as that of an American Colorist in the modified tradition of Bluemner with whose work and color theories Winarsky probably was familiar. Many of Winarsky’s landscape paintings fit/pictorially express Bluemner’s notion: “Whatever inner impulse we address towards nature is abstract. Thus, a landscape, as a motive for expression, undergoes a free transformation from objective reality to a subjective realization of personal vision.” *Oscar Bluemner: American Colorist, p.23, Fogg Museum, October 11-November 15, 1967) Moreover, Winarsky’s frequent use of simplified masses in landscapes reflects the influence of both Marsden Hartley and as well as that of Oscar Bluemner. Combining his preoccupations with World War II history and military aircraft design, Winarsky also painted many watercolors of aerial combat, missions and sorties. Winarsky was not devoured by the holocaust horror but was indelibly touched by its human lesson. As a result it seems he was emancipated to appreciate the beauty of life and art more not less because of its occurrence. His style was variably expressionist and impressionist with a modernist flair and a representational base that gave his work multiple facets. His palette was zestful, his compositions bold and forthright and oftentimes quite complex. Winarsky, as do most successful artists, has left us with a pictorial range of his interests, attitudes and favorite subject matter in an expressive and effective manner. Apropos of his modernist approach, Winarsky did not try to record the literal. He sought to transform it. His subject matter, whether it was a still life, a person or a landscape, was channeled through his transformative sensibilities with an often cogent result. Perhaps his greatest gift was that he was a committed and imaginative colorist whose vision was authentic, personal and accessible. Winarsky had no other non-service residence other than his family home until 1965. He then married Bernice Kurman and moved to Eastern Parkway in Newark before settling permanently three years later at 299 Short Hills Avenue in Springfield, N.J. , a home on a wooded lot that served as a refuge, studio and subject for Winarsky. He supported his wife, his son & his daughter by working in research and development at Squibb/Bristol Meyers. Despite his more public life in science, privately he was constantly immersed in his lifelong growth as an artist. Winarsky died of a heart attack in his Springfield home in June of 2006, leaving a large inventory of his passion and vision intact. Israel Louis Winarsky should be remembered for his beautiful impressionistic and expressionistic landscapes, his holocaust depictions, his urban portrayals, his colorful still lives, his harbor renderings and his expressionistic character interpretations, all of which secure a place for him among New Jersey’s most remarkable 20th century artists.