Joseph PRESSMANE (1904 - 1967) - Lot 157

Joseph PRESSMANE (1904 - 1967) Village view Oil on canvas Signed lower left and dated 54 73 x 60 cm Gilded wood frame (Wear to the frame, canvas slightly warped, minor loss of material) NOTICE Joseph Pressmane (1904-1967) was a French painter of Russian origin, whose work is part of the rich tradition of the École de Paris, an artistic melting pot that brought together artists of different nationalities and styles in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century. This school was marked by great stylistic diversity, ranging from post-impressionism to expressionism, cubism and abstraction. Pressmane belongs to this generation of cosmopolitan artists, alongside figures such as Chaïm Soutine, Marc Chagall and Amedeo Modigliani, who helped renew modern art in France with a profoundly human and emotional approach. Born in Russia, Pressmane immigrated to France, where he found fertile ground for his artistic development. He settled in Montparnasse, a vibrant district of Parisian artistic life, where he rubbed shoulders with other artists of Russian and Eastern European Jewish origin, such as Pinchus Krémègne, Michel Kikoïne and Ossip Zadkine. These artists shared a common sensibility for the depiction of the human condition, often marked by exile, melancholy and the search for identity. Their works, imbued with emotional force and expressive use of color, influenced Pressmane's creative universe. Pressmane's painting, imbued with lyricism and gravity, focuses on scenes of everyday life, portraits and still lifes. Like Chaïm Soutine, to whom he is close in his treatment of pictorial matter, Pressmane uses a vibrant brushstroke and intense color palette to express deep emotions. Soutine and Pressmane share a heightened sensitivity to the human condition, reflected in distorted forms and expressions of suffering or inner beauty. Pressmane also shows an affinity with Marc Chagall, particularly in his use of nostalgic and symbolic motifs linked to his past and his Jewish origins. Although less dreamlike than Chagall, his art shares the same melancholy and poetic reflection on memory and exile. This human and contemplative dimension is also present in his treatment of color, which is sometimes soft and subtle, recalling the approach of Jules Pascin, another Jewish emigrant artist who left his mark on the École de Paris. At the same time, he maintained links with artists such as Maurice Utrillo and Gen Paul, whose work focused on depicting Parisian life. While Utrillo was distinguished by his cold, almost photographic cityscapes, Pressmane captured the same city atmosphere, but with a more subjective touch, transforming his scenes into meditations on the human condition. Joseph Pressmane's work is deeply rooted in the experience of exile, loss and the quest for identity. His art is part of a humanist tradition, in which human emotion occupies a central place. Although he did not achieve the notoriety of some of his contemporaries, Pressmane remains an important figure in the École de Paris, having contributed to the artistic legacy of this crucial period in the history of modern art.