Description
JAN MENSES (1933 - ), R.C.A.KIPPOTH SERIESGOUACHE ON PAPER; ONE SIGNED AND DATED '60; THREE SIGNED AND DATED '63 IN PENCILEach 19.75" x 25.75" - 50.2 x 65.4 cm.Provenance:Purchased directly from the artistNote:JAN MENSES (1933 - ), R.C.A."My works have dealt with death, the eclipse of faith, the galut. They are shaped by my childhood experiences, real and imagined, in Nazi-occupied Europe, influenced by and rooted in my principles and standards of conduct as an Orthodox Jew in the post-holocaust/pre-messianic era. They are an attempt to translate these experiences into visual contemporary forms (imagery conflicts and reconciliations of conflict in order to ascend from the personal/specific to the universal/general). They are a lament, an elegy, a denial and confirmation, an expression of the attitude of the soul in its debasement and dignity towards its Creator; a striving towards serenity in anticipation of the redemption; a form of prayer".- Jan Menses -Jan Menses was born and raised in Rotterdam in 1933. The memories of growing up through the atrocities that he witnessed during the Second World War are embedded in him and are explored in his art. Menses studied etching and lithography at the Rotterdam Art Academy, and went on to complete his military service as an officer in the Royal Dutch Air Force. He travelled extensively afterwards through Europe and Morocco. It was while in Morocco that he was deeply influenced by the mystical spirituality of the Jewish community that led to his conversion to Tora. He abandoned his early colorful, expressionistic style and embarked on a progression of cycles of Judaic and cabalistic inspired work. Menses and his wife immigrated to Montreal, Quebec, in 1960, where he began his first thematic series, Diabolica, a set of 165 etchings. Throughout the next twenty-five years, produced three other series: Kaddish, dealing with the concentration camps; Klippoth, a study on the various facets of evil; and Tikkun, inspired by the theme of messianic redemption. His first solo exhibition in 1961 was held at the Jewish Public Library in Montreal, and he has since participated in over 250 solo and group exhibitions throughout the world, including at the Guggenheim and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and at The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, to name but a few. His work is included in over eighty major art institutions and museums worldwide, as well as many private and corporate collections. He is also the recipient of major awards, and was elected a member the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Menses lives in Tzfat, Israel, where he owns a gallery.Selected Corporate, Private and Public CollectionsAgnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston, ONArt Gallery of Hamilton, ONArt Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, NSArt Institute of Chicago, ILBanque d'Oeuvres d'Art du Quebec,Bar Ilan University Collection, Tel Aviv, IsraelBoymans-Van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, HollandBronfman Museum, Montreal, QCBrooklyn Museum, NYC.I.L. Collection, Montreal, QCCadillac-Fairview Collection, Montreal, QCCanada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, ONCBC Collection, Montreal, QCCanadian Jewish Congress Museum, Montreal, QC Cemp Collection, Montreal, QCCity of Safed, IsraelCleveland Museum of Art, OHCollection Rishon LeZion, Jerusalem, IsraelConcordia University, Montreal, QCConfederation Art Museum, Charlottetown, PEIDavid Giles Carter Collection, New Haven, CTDepartment of External Affairs, Ottawa, ONDetroit Institute of Arts, MIEsperanza Gallery Collection, Montreal, QC Haifa Museum of Modern Art, Haifa, IsraelHebrew University, Jerusalem, IsraelHolocaust Memorial Centre Montreal, QCHolocaust Remembrance Centre, Toronto, ONIndianapolis Museum of Art, MNIsrael Museum, Jerusalem, IsraelJewish Public Library, Montreal, QCJonathan Edwards College, New Haven, CT Kitchener / Waterloo Museum, ONLavalin Collection Montreal, QCLoto Quebec Collection, Montreal, QCMalchi Collection of Art, Jerusalem, IsraelMcGill University Collection, Montreal, QCMead Art Museum, Amherst, MSMinistère des Communautés Culturelles et de l'Immigration du Québec, QCMira Godard Collection of Contemporary Art, Toronto, ONMontreal Museum of Fine Arts, QCMusee d' Art Contemporain, Montreal, QCMusée d'art contemporain de Montreal, QC Musée du Québec, QCMuseo Ciani di Villa Caccia; Lugano, ItalyMuseum of Modern Art, New York, NYNational Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ONOlympia & York Collection, Toronto, ONOwens Art Museum, Sackville, NBPanstwowe Muzeum Na-Majdanku, Lublin, PolandPhiladelphia Museum of Art, PAPushkin Museum, Moscow, RussiaRhode Island School of Design, RIRijksmuseum, Amsterdam, HollandRose Art Museum, Waltham, MAShalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem, IsraelSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NYStedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, HollandStrassburger College, IsraelThe Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NHThe Gallery, Stratford, CTThe London Regional Art Museum, London, England The New York Public Library;The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa, ONThomas More Inst., Montreal, QCUniversité de Montreal, QCUniversity of Arizona, Tucson, AZUniversity of Cape Breton, Sydney, NSUniversity of New Hampshire, NHVatican Museum, Rome, ItalyVictoria and Albert, London, EnglandWorcester Art Museum, Worcester,, MAYad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, Jerusalem, IsraelYale University., New Haven, CTYivo Institute, New York, NYSelected Solo Exhibitions2004 Bezalel - Artist Academy, Jerusalem 1999 The DBD Gallery, Santa Monica, CA1998-1999 Nora Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel1996-1997 Blom & Dorn Gallery, Hartford, CT1995-1996 Nora Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel1994 Safed Gallery / Museum: Menses Hamaayan Haradum;1994 Gallery Har Nof, Jerusalem, Israel 1992 Blom & Dorn Gallery, Hartford, CT1991 Galerie La Magie D'Art, Toronto, ON1989 Young Israel of Montreal, QC1989 Gallery Hamaayan Haradum-Safed, Israel 1988-1989 Esperanza Gall., Montreal, QC1987 Wolfson Community Ctr., Safed, Israel 1987 -1988 Mayanot Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel1986-1987 Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, Westmount, QC1985 Marywood College Museum, Scranton, PA1994-1986 Blom & Dorn Gallery, New York, NY1985-1991 Blom & Dorn Gallery, New York, NY1984 Saidye Bronfman Centre Museum, Montreal, QC 1984 Agnès Etherington Art Centre, Queen's University, Kingston, ON1983 Mead Art Museum, Amherst, MA1983 Galerie Michel Tetreault Art Contemporain, Montreal, QC1981 University of British Columbia Fine Arts Gallery1981 Galerie Don Stewart, Montreal, QC1980 Elca London Gallery, Montreal 1979Seasons Galleries, The Hague, Holland1979 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts 1976 (retrospective) Studio Gravure G, Ottawa, ON 1978 Galerie Mira Godard, Toronto 1974 Rotterdamse Kunststichting, Holland1971-1972 Galerie Martal, Montreal, QC1967 Gallery Moos, Toronto, ON1966 Galerie Godard Lefort, Montreal, QC1965 Delta Gallery, Rotterdam, Holland1964 Jason Teff Gallery, Montreal, QC1964 Isaacs Gallery, Toronto, ON1963 Tifereth Jerusalem Congregation, Montreal, QC1962 Penthouse Gallery, Montreal, QC1962 Montebello Gallery, Montreal, QC1961 McGill University, Montreal, QC1960 Jewish Public Library, Montreal, QC Until 1960France, Holland, Spain, MoroccoSelected Group Exhibitions1999-2004 Gallery / Museum Hamaayan Haradum, Safed, Israe1991Royal Canadian Academy: Quebec Works, Academy House Gallery, Toronto, ON1990Ora Group of 8: Israel, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON1985Concordia University, Montreal, QC1965Philadelphia Art Alliance, PAParticipated in over 250 group exhibitions worldwide Selected LinksCanadian Who's Whojanmenses.com