‘SEATED WOMAN WITH A BASKET OF FRUIT’ BY ITZCHAK TARKAY (2000s)

A stimulating, limited-edition serigraph from esteemed Israeli artist ITZCHAK TARKAY (1935-2012), inspired by his early-aughts oil painting, Seated Woman with a Basket of Fruit. The figure of a young female is set against a Post-Impressionist backdrop of vibrant color and geometric pattern, the fluid lines and rich palette pointing to the influence of Matisse and Toulouse-Lautrec. While often celebrated for expressive use of color and his mastery of moods, Tarkay’s primary focus was compositional clarity. He took to heart Picasso’s principle that “every painting should rhyme”; witness the harmony of forms in this piece and how the shade of each ripe fruit is echoed in the sitter’s costume. Signed and numbered in plate: 192/450. ITZCHAK TARKAY was an influential Israeli artist primarily known for his watercolor and acrylic portraits of sophisticated-looking women in modish clothing. He was born in 1935 in Subotica, Serbia, about 10 km below the Hungarian border, in what was then Yugosl