Yochanan Simon

Figures in the Kibbutz, 1947,
Oil on canvas, 80X65 cm.
Signed and dated.
Provenance: Roitman Family collection.

Literature and Exhibition: Art in Israel, Amnon Barzel, p. 69.

This painting, which we have not known until now, is one of the best "rest" paintings of Yochanan Simon. Along with two paintings of "Menochat Hapoalim" (1943, 1944), three paintings of "Menucha Bekibbutz" (1944, 1947, 1949), two paintings "Shabbat in the Kibbutz" (1944, 1947), "After Work" (1946) and more and more – this painting not only proves the 42-year-old painter at his best, but also confirms his interest in representing situations of "after labor" (these will also be joined by murals and canvases on "youth in the kibbutz" (dancing, music, sports, etc.) and "children’s hour"). There’s not a shortage of "work" paintings by Simon: for, we remember the paintings of the herdsmen, diggers, pickers, flaps, drills, etc., but, it seems, that Simon is relatively well-known for assimilating the idea of labor during rest and animation. The state of rest made it easier for him to create the pictorial "sculpture" of his monumental figures, frozen in relatively thick black outlines. On the other hand, the movement in the work does not essentially reconcile with the obvious static of the heroic design, to which the painter strived. In their toil, due to the "bustling" compression of many figures in varied and contrasting limb positions, it turns out at a second glance as a representation of the cessation or termination of work. What is the work of these workers? It is difficult to know. The axe (?) in the right hand does not betray its purpose. Look at the painting: A hot summer day. The workers are concentrated in part on a sheet of blue cloth under a wooden shed, which provides them some shade. Others rest outside. The headdresses of the men and women show that they all worked together in the scorching sun. The central worker, at the front of the painting, removed his shirt and holds a jug of water to refresh himself. To his right, a kneeling man is working in his tank top (hella with the ax) and he is wiping the sweat from his face. To his right, another worker drinks water from a pitcher his holding in his hands. To the left of the figure standing in the center, a young man kneeling, holding a wicker basket with utensils and food. It is noon (the light is very radiant from outside), a break for a meal, a drink and a relaxation of limbs, before they all return to their tedious work. Two figures – a man (on the right) and a woman (with their backs to us) – are holding watermelon slices. Another woman, on the left (in her red beret), sits and rests, leaning on a pile of sacks (?). In the background on the right, a donkey is drinking from a bucket one of the workers holds in his hands, while another donkey is waiting nearby, close to large gray containers, apparently – drinking water for workers and working animals. The entire painting harmoniously combines an external image and an interior image (shed), an introduction to the painter’s transition in the late 1940s from depictions of outdoor scenes in the kibbutz to interior scenes [Tali Tamir, "Yochanan Simon: Double Portrait", 2001, p. 113]. It has been 11 years since Simon came to Kibbutz Gan-Shmuel and he is at the peak of the realistic-social artistic move, whose mission is to miraculously raise the values of the kibbutz movement: the sturdy-healthy bodies of young workers (in Simon’s kibbutz paintings almost no elderly are found), Equality between men and women (the partnership in hard work), the unity of man and nature (the earth tones in the representations of the body), the collective (the multiplicity of characters and the "togetherness" of the pictorial author). Much has been written about the stylistic affinity for the paintings of the Mexican Diego Rivera and the French Fernand Léger. We will only emphasize again that the current painting is one of the best paintings by Yochanan Simon. And let’s not miss the point: placing emphasis on the person.

Gideon Ofrat

Estimated price: $50,000 - $80,000

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About: Yochanan Simon

1976 - 1905

Yochanan Simon is a German-born painter who became particularly identified with the kibbutz movement and with socialist realism. Simon was born in 1905 and in 1936 immigrated to Israel and settled in Kibbutz Gan Shmuel, where he found himself engaged in various works, but hardly painted. At the same time, his great talent did not go unnoticed by the captains of the "National Kibbutz" and they recruited him in favor of glorifying the kibbutz movement through art. He painted posters full of pathos for the "Shomer Hatzair", paintings that present the kibbutz life as successful and in particular family scenes that combine happiness and intimacy, as well as works that glorify the value of work and the beauty of the land (in a time period defined as the "brown period"). Thus Simon was chosen to paint the official poster of the first Israeli Independence Day as well as a poster for May 1, 1950. In 1953 Simon made another significant turning point, both in terms of lifestyle and artistic style - he separated from his first wife, moved to Tel Aviv, and began painting in his studio (located in Sderot Rothschild 125, a very short distance from the house of another famous painter, Yosl Bergner) in a completely different style from the one that characterized him in the kibbutz. His works during this period became modern, abstract, very colorful and full of optimism - mainly influenced by his journey to South America. Towards the end of his life he even moved to surrealist paintings, in the style of Juan Miró. Simon is also known for his oversized murals to which he was exposed during his travels to New York and Italy. In 1950, he created a number of murals in universities, factories and public buildings, and even on ships of the Zim company. On his travels to South America he also created well-known murals in Brazil and Argentina.