Tobiasz HABER (Lutomiersk 1885 - Treblinka 1943)... Lot 16

Tobiasz HABER (Lutomiersk 1885 - Treblinka 1943) The houses with red roofs Circa 1930 Oil on canvas 38 x 55 cm Signed lower right "T. Haber " Inventory number on the back on the stretcher " V18082 " Tobiasz Haber, also known as Karl, Tévié and Tuvia was born in Lutomiersk in Poland. He entered the artistic world as a model at Łódź and moved to Paris in 1927 to pursue his career. There he met the art dealer Léopold Zborowski, showed him drawings by his younger brother Beron and Zborowski decided to bring the latter from Poland to settle in Paris and develop his talent. After a year spent in Paris, Beron suffers from mental problems, Zborowski transfers him to a private hospital where he can continue to paint; Tobiasz takes his brother Beron back to Poland but he dies following a hunger strike at the age of 25. In Paris, Tobiasz Haber paints street and interior scenes, landscapes and portraits. The palette is dark, the forms are intertwined. After Germany's invasion of Poland, Tobiasz Haber returns to his native country and settles in Bialystok, an enclave for artists fleeing Lodz and Warsaw. Bialystok is invaded by the Germans in 1941, Tobiasz Haber is forced to work for a German industrialist Oskar Steffen to copy works of old masters, these works are then exported from the ghetto by truck. In February 1943, a first wave of deportations to Treblinka was carried out. Tobiasz Haber died in the Bialystok ghetto in August 1943. The work presented here depicts a path around 1930, surrounded by houses with red roofs and tree-lined gardens. The colours used are dark, opaque, the forms intermingle, the composition is expressive.