Iosif Iser (21 May 1881 – 25 April 1958; born and died in
Bucharest) was a
Romanian painter and graphic artist.
Born to a
Jewish family, he was initially inspired by
Expressionism
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
, creating drawings with thick, unmodulated, lines and steep angles. After studies in
Munich and
Paris (with, among others,
André Derain), Iser worked for the
socialist press (''Facla'' and the original version of ''
Adevărul
''Adevărul'' (; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published dur ...
''), publishing a large number of
caricature
A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...
s (most of them satirising the
Romanian Monarchy
The King of Romania (Romanian: ''Regele României'') or King of the Romanians (Romanian: ''Regele Românilor''), was the title of the monarch of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when the Romanian Workers' Party proclaimed the Romanian ...
). He also started his first series of paintings with
Dobrujan themes, usually featuring local
Tatar portraits.
Around 1920, Iosif Iser adopted a more luminous range of colours, while softening the textures. He continued his "Tatar" themes with his ''Tătăroaică în albastru'' ("Tatar Woman in Blue") and ''Famile de tătari'' ("Tatar Family"). He expanded on another series, one that depicted
harlequins.
In 1955, he was elected a full
member of the Romanian Academy.
Notes
Graphics
External links
*
Biographical sketch at Judaica.ro
Romanian painters
Romanian caricaturists
Romanian cartoonists
Expressionist painters
Adevărul people
Artists from Bucharest
Romanian Jews
Jewish painters
Titular members of the Romanian Academy
1881 births
1958 deaths
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