Harry Elsas, Expressionist African American Woman Portrait German Brazilian Harry Elsas

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Framed 20.5 x 18 image 14.5 x 12 Heinz Hugo Erich Elsas, (German-Brazilian 1925-1994) later known as Harry Elsas. Muralist, … Read more Framed 20.5 x 18 image 14.5 x 12 Heinz Hugo Erich Elsas, (German-Brazilian 1925-1994) later known as Harry Elsas. Muralist, writer, designer best known as a painter. Born in 1925 in Stuttgart, Germany, 1n 1936 At the age of 14 he moved with his family to Sao Paulo, Brazil fleeing from World War II and of the persecution of the Jews. A self taught artist he was influenced by the Flemish artists, his work reveals remarkable influence of Brueghel and Hieronymus Bosch. He worked in the workshop of Portinari, participating in the Tiradentes mural. His work went through a post-Expressionist phase, culminating in the adoption of cubism and is characterized by the habit of creating a three-dimensional structure before painting a picture. In 1945, he was working with Lasar Segall (Lithuanian Jewish and Brazilian painter, engraver and sculptor. Segall's work is derived from impressionism, expressionism and modernism. His most significant themes were depictions of human suffering, war, persecution and prostitution) and held his first solo show, at the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC), in Rio de Janeiro, shortly thereafter. From 1946 to 1953, Elsas resided in Northeast Brazil, where he was strongly influenced by both- the poverty and hard working culture of the region. From 1956 through 1970, Elsas lived in Rio de Janeiro where he participated in several exhibitions. Elsas moved back to Sao Paulo. Understanding the struggles of the poor, he opened up a free art school for 3 years. After the school closed in 1974, he did several major commissioned works, including his famous mural triptych panel on Safra Bank's city wall. He was part of a generation of European born Jewish artists who settled in Brazil, such as Abraham Palatnik, Robert Burle Marx, Nelson Leirner and Gershon Knispel. See less