Raúl Pavlotzky

1918, Israel (then Mandatory Palestine) - 1998, Uruguay

House in Jerusalem, 1970s

Original Hand-Signed Mixed media on Plexiglass


Artist Name: 
Raúl Pavlotzky

Title: 
House in Jerusalem

Signature Description: Hand-signed upper right

Technique: Mixed media on plexiglass

Image Size: 45 x 23 cm / 17.72" x 9.06 inch

Frame: The painting is matted and framed

Condition: Good condition, stable, complete condition with no breakage, scratches, repairs, wear, cracks, paint peelings or losses, light surface curvature.


Artist's Biography:

RAUL PAVLOTZKY (Uruguayan, 1918 - 1998)

Raúl Pavlotzky (1918 - 1998) was born in Israel, but lived, studied and created in Uruguay.
He adopted Uruguayan citizenship and was an enthusiastic member of different artistic groups and endeavors.
Pavlotzky was one of the earliest concrete artists along with Carmelo Arden Quin, Rhod Rothfuss, Antonio Llorens, Rodolfo Ian Uricchio, among others.
In the 1950's he was linked to the group of geometric artists whose precursors were José Pedro Costigliolo and María Freire.
Later he was the co-founder of “Grupo 8,” another reference point for the vernacular avant-garde.
From the 1950s through the end of the 1970s he worked on experimental art projects. His most noteworthy work was produced in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.
In 1958 he was invited to represent Uruguay at the first Sao Paulo Biennial, and in 1962 he was chosen to exhibit at the first Córdoba Biennial as well.
Pavlotzky presented solo shows in Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Jerusalem, Beer Sheva and Tel Aviv.
As founding member of “Grupo 8” he participated in group shows at the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires, at the University of Chile, and in Prague, and participated in different abstract art exhibitions in Uruguay, Israel, Brazil, United States, Poland, Sweden and Venezuela.
His works are located in the collections of the Blanes Museum in Montevideo, the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires, the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro, the University of Dallas, the Municipal Pinacoteca of Porto Alegre, as well as in celebrated private collections.
 

The artist Raúl Pavlotzky was born in Israel in 1918, and lived, studied and created in Uruguay as of 1930.
He became a citizen of Uruguay and was an enthusiastic member of different artistic groups and endeavors. On January 15, 1998 he died at the age of eighty.

Pavlotzky studied with Guillermo Laborde and José Cúneo, and in the 1950s was linked to the group of geometric artists whose precursors were José Pedro Costigliolo and María Freire. He was also among the earliest concrete artists. Later he was the founder of "Grupo 8," another reference point for the vernacular avant-garde.
From the 1950s through the end of the 1970s he was among Uruguay's experimental artists.

As of 1942 he participated in the National Salons and as of 1943 in Municipal Salons. In 1942, he won the Prize for foreign artists at the National Fine Arts Salon.
He won numerous prizes during the 1940s, '50s and '60s at Municipal Salons, and his award-winning works are today part of the Blanes Museum's collection.
In 1959 he was awarded First Prize at the National Salon, and that same year was also distinguished at the international art exhibition in Punta del Este (Uruguay).
His success continued and in 1960 he received the "Warthein" Contest First Prize in Buenos Aires. In 1969 he won First Prize in the FUNSA Competition.

He represented Uruguay in various foreign exhibitions.
In 1958 he was invited to show at the first Sao Paulo Biennial as representative of Uruguay, and in 1962 he was chosen to represent Uruguay at the first Córdoba Biennial.

Pavlotzky showed individually as of 1959 in Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Jerusalem, Beer Sheva and Tel Aviv. As founding member of "Grupo 8" he participated in group shows at the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires, at the University of Chile, and in Prague, and participated in different abstract art exhibitions in Uruguay, Israel, Brazil, United States, Poland, Sweden and Venezuela.

His works are in the collections of the Blanes Museum in Montevideo, the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires, the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro, the University of Dallas, the Municipal Pinacoteca of Porto Alegre, and various private collections.

His most noteworthy work was produced in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, after abandoning his first period of figuration and before becoming involved, in the 1980s and '90s, in his final stage of urban landscapes. He is to be remembered for that highly successful stage.

Following his geometric stage Pavlotzky made incursions into informalism.
Of that period García Esteban says: "the vaporous, dynamic blotches of elegant chromatism, somewhat easy, with which he starts out in this current later allow for a certain regularity and take on a substance deriving from the quality of the material. He makes the most of the best examples of other art, but does not abandon spatial illusion. There is an underlying organized structure in the dispersion of areas of color, and those areas have, ultimately, a true adherence to the rectangle."

His silk-screens were striking from the outset because of the fineness of the color and his display of refined, masterly technique. His followers during the 1960s remember the subtlety and delicacy of those works.

One of his most noteworthy series consists of his large-format collages done during the 1970s. Here his palette is very much controlled, in works where scrap plays a fundamental role. Dramatic, severe, and in keeping with a style linked to materials and process art, they are very much representative of a current in Uruguayan art linked at that time to the proposals of Burri and Tápies.

Another series to be taken into account are the prints done after his stay in New York at the Pratt Institute, and after his time at the studio of Liliana Porter and Luis Camnitzer. By then Pavlotzky had more than proven his skill as a silk-screener. He had stood out in Uruguay in that discipline, which he later enriched with other experiences in printmaking in the New York context. By melding abstract elements and some very subtle figurative details Pavlotzky achieved successful images in a conjunction of printmaking techniques. Those prints are today among the best of his production.

Unfortunately, many people who did not see his exhibitions in the 1950s, '60s and '70s are unaware of the importance of those periods of Pavlotzky, and are familiar only with his last stage, which is very well known today. Pavlotzky's work that warrants remembering was produced by him over decades in the experimental field, in the series of collages, paintings and prints in which he shone as creator. He should also be remembered for his contribution to silk-screening, not only for his own expressiveness, but also for his consummate mastery of technique that with great refinement brought to the plate many images admired today in galleries, museums and buildings.


Additional Information:

Nace en Israel en 1918 y vivió, estudió y creó en el Uruguay desde 1930. En este país se hizo ciudadano legal y se integró con entusiasmo a diversos grupos artisticos.

Pavlotzky estudió con Guillermo Laborde y José Cúneo y luego se vinculó en la década del 50 con el grupo de geométricos del que fueran precursores José Pedro Costigliolo y María Freire. El también se encontró entre los concretistas de primera hora. Más adelante fue fundador del «Grupo 8», otro punto de referencia para las vanguardias vernáculas. Desde la década del 50 y hasta fines de los 70 se encontró entre los artistas experimentales del Uruguay.

Desde 1942 participó en Salones Nacionales y luego desde 1943 en Salones Municipales. En 1942 obtuvo el Premio a artistas extranjeros en el Salón Nacional de Bellas Artes. Recibió numerosos premios en las décadas del 40, 50 y 60 en los Salones Municipales y las obras galardonadas hoy integran el acervo del Museo Blanes. En 1959 se le otorgó el Primer Premio del Salón Nacional y ese año también fue distinguido en la muestra internacional de arte de Punta del Este. Sus éxitos continuaron y en 1960 recibió el Primer Premio en el Certamen «Warthein» en Buenos Aires. En 1969 se hizo acreedor al Primer Premio del Concurso FUNSA.

Representó al Uruguay en diversas muestras extranjeras. Cabe recordar que en 1958 fue invitado a exponer en la Bienal de San Pablo integrando el envío uruguayo y en 1962. Tambien en el año  1962 fue seleccionado para representar al Uruguay en la Primera Bienal de Córdoba.

Pavlotzky expuso en forma individual desde 1959 en Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Jerusalén, Beer Sheva y Tel Aviv. En su calidad de miembro fundador del «Grupo 8», expuso en forma colectiva en el Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, en la Universidad de Chile y en Praga y participó en diversas muestras de arte abstracto en el Uruguay, Israel, Brasil, Estados Unidos, Polonia, Suecia y Venezuela. Sus obras integran colecciones del Museo Blanes, Museo de Arte Modernos de Buenos Aires, Museo de Arte Moderno de Rio de Janeiro, Universidad de Dallas, Pinacoteca Municipal de Porto Alegre y varias colecciones privadas.

Su obra más destacada la produjo en los años cincuenta, sesenta y setenta, luego de abandonar la primera figuración y antes de entregarse, en los años ochenta y noventa, a su última etapa de paisajes urbanos. Conviene recordarlo por esa etapa de numerosos aciertos.

Pavlotzky hizo, luego de su faz geométrica, incursiones en el informalismo. Sobre ese período sostiene García Esteban: «Las manchas vaporosas, dinámicas y de elegante cromatismo, algo fáciles, con las que se inicia en la corriente, admiten luego una cierta regularidad y se encorpan por la calidad de la materia empleada. Saca partido de los ejemplos mejores del arte otro, pero no abandona la ilusión espacial. La estructura organizada subyace en la dispersión de las zonas de color y éstas tienen, efectivamente, real adhesión al rectángulo.»

Llamó la atención desde el principio la fineza de color y el despliegue de técnica depurada y gran oficio de sus serigrafías. Sus adeptos de los años sesenta recuerdan la sutileza y delicadez de esas obras.

Una de sus series más estimables es la de collages de gran formato realizada en la década del 70. Se trata de obras de paleta muy controlada en las que tiene una presencia fundamental la chatarra. Dramáticas, severas y alineadas en un estilo vinculado al arte matérico, representan bien toda una corriente del arte uruguayo de entonces afiliada a las propuestas de Burri y Tápies.

Otra serie a tener en cuenta es la de grabados realizados luego de su estada en Nueva York en el Instituto Pratt y luego de su tránsito por el taller de Liliana Porter y Luis Camnitzer. Para entonces Pavlotzky ya había probado con creces su destacado oficio como serígrafo. Sobresalió en el Uruguay en esa disciplina que enriqueció luego con otras experiencias en grabado aprendidas en el medio neoyorquino. Aunando elementos abstractos y algunos detalles figurativos muy sutiles, Pavlotzky logró a partir de esa conjunción de técnicas de grabación, imágenes acertadas y esos grabados se encuentran entre lo mejor de su producción.

Desafortunadamente mucha gente que no frecuentaba exposiciones en los años cincuenta, sesenta y setenta desconoce la importancia de esos períodos de Pavlotzky y tiene en mente sólo la última etapa que es muy divulgada hoy en día. La obra de Pavlotzky que merece ser recordada, es la del artista que estuvo durante décadas en el terreno experimental, la del creador que se explayó en esas series de collages, pinturas y grabados. También cabe recordar su aporte a la serigrafía, no sólo en su propio terreno expresivo sino como técnico consumado que llevó a la plancha con gran refinamiento, muchas imágenes de sus colegas hoy apreciadas en galerías, museos y edificios.

Alicia Haber

Extraído del MUVA-Museo Virtual de Artes – Diario El Pais.

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