Draft:Vera Gutkina

Vera Gutkina (February 9, 1953 – December 22, 2022) was a Russian-Israeli painter, poet, and writer.

Early life

Vera Gutkina was born on February 9, 1953 in Moscow, USSR into a family of scientists. Her father was a Physicist, her mother an engineer and her brother, Eugene Gutkin, a Professor of Mathematics at USC and Nicolaus Copernicus University. Nevertheless, Gutkina was drawn to art and while she began painting as an adolescent, her father forbade her from pursuing a career as an artist unless she first became an engineer.

Acquiescing to his demand, Gutkina successfully completed a Master's Degree in Engineering in 1977. She would never work in that profession.

At the age of 21-years-old, Gutkina became the protégée of painter Vladimir Shtranikh. Renowned in Moscow at the time, Shtranikh accepted Gutkina as one of his few students after reviewing her early portfolio. Shtranikh was a disciple of the leading Russian impressionist Konstantin Korovin, and taught Gutkina for several years. He remained an important influence on her work throughout her career.

In 1980, Gutkina was granted membership in the Moscow Young Artists Union. She was among a small group of artists accepted into this union without having attended art school.

In Israel

Gutkina immigrated to Israel in 1982 and settled in Jerusalem. She established herself as an artist, and her works were exhibited in several museums and galleries in Israel beginning in the 1980s. In addition, she was a resident artist with works on permanent display at Jerusalem's Nora, Ella and Horace Richter Galleries.

In 1988, Gutkina was awarded a scholarship by Israel's Ministry of Education and Culture to paint at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris. She returned to the Cité des Arts regularly for many years.

Gutkina's name and reputation steadily grew in the circles of Israel's fine art community. Her work would ultimately be featured in one-woman and group shows in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Ottawa, New York, Florence, and Paris.

Gutkina won several awards including the Gelber Zeill Prize (1982), the Yosef Kolkovski Prize (1985), and the Shoshana Ish-Shalom Prize (2013), the latter being recognition for excellence as assessed by The Jerusalem Artists' House.

Artistic style

Gutkina's work in the Soviet Union was characterized by her exploration of darker shades and themes. After her arrival in Israel, Gutkina's style evolved and her work became more colorful and expressive.

Gutkina was a prolific painter who explored many themes and subjects each of which is represented in the wide range of series she produced. These areas of interest include Gutkina's view of Zen philosophy, her notion of all human beings as angels and her relationship with birds. These series also capture her experiences in Paris and Venice, the evolution of her relationship with the city of Jerusalem as well as an exploration of her relationships.

Throughout each period and series Gutkina was also painting portraits including self portraits, landscapes and still life works. One of her best known portraits is of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, one of the founders of the religious Zionist movement and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Palestine. The painting is on permanent display in the Rav Kook Museum in Jerusalem.

Gutkina explained her relationship with colour saying "Not Russian, not Hebrew, not English is my mother tongue. Colour is my native language".

One of Israel's leading art historians, Gideon Ofrat, described Gutkina's style as involving an "impressive ability to combine artistic knowledge, a moderate modernistic awareness, and a profound human sensitivity," with artistic roots "planted deep in the soil of Modern Russian art". Gutkina described herself as a "continuation of the Russian modernist tradition of Robert Falk [...], the artist who bridged Parisian post-Cezanneism and Russian cubism [...]".

Gutkina painted on stretched and unstretched canvas but was not encumbered by traditional materials. She painted on a range of surfaces including paper, cloth, cloth covered in gauze and wood from old furniture. She also created multimedia pieces blending paintings with articles of clothing.

Activism

In 1994, Gutkina led a campaign seeking justice and compensation for victims of a scam in which a corporation, Israsov, presenting itself as an organization assisting Jewish immigrants to Israel, ostensibly representing the Government of Israel, stole millions of dollars from new immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union. Gutkina's own mother was among the victims. Gutkina's relentless campaign and its ensuing legal battle culminated in the conviction of Leonid Roitman, who headed the organization. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Gutkina painted a rare series of politically-motivated works during this period.

Writing

Gutkina published independently three books in Russian:

Outdoor With Crocodiles (2000): An experimental memoir depicting the Israsov scandal and Gutkina's campaign.

At the Vernissage: In The Open Air (2001): A collection of plays co-written with Anik Tugarev.

Into The Labyrinth (2003): A book of poetry

Personal life

In 1983 in Jerusalem, Gutkina met and quickly married Abrasha Rachkovsky, also an immigrant to Israel from the former Soviet Union (Lithuania). They were married for several years, divorcing in 1995. They had two daughters, Aviva Rot and Tamar Rachkovsky, both of whom were frequent subjects of Gutkina's work.

Selected exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

2012   Flight of Light, Nora gallery, Jerusalem

2005   Nuances of Colors, Ella gallery, Jerusalem

2003   Orpheus and Eurydice, Anthea gallery, Jerusalem

2002   A Meat Grinder, Nora gallery, Jerusalem

2000   Fur-coat, Nora gallery, Jerusalem

1997   Without angels, Artists House, Jerusalem

1990   Reverberations, Falkenstern Fine Art, New York

1990   Last works, Cadogan Contemporary Fine Art, London

1990   Roofs of Paris, Jerusalem Theater, Jerusalem

1988   Last works, 39 Steps gallery, Jerusalem

1985   Last works, Horace Richter gallery, Tel-Aviv

1984   Last works, Artists House, Jerusalem

1983   Landscapes, Ella gallery, Jerusalem

Group exhibitions

2015 Le Mystère des Anges, Cinémathèque, Jerusalem

2012 Donner du Temps au Temps, Espace d'animation des Blancs Manteaux, Paris

2008 Jérusalem Céleste, Pavillon Carré de Baudouin Paris; FYR arte contemporanea, Florence; Elle Gallery, Jerusalem

1987 Hanuukah 5747, the Knesset, Jerusalem

1986 Self-Portrait Exhibitions, Artists' House, Jerusalem

1985 Salon des Beaux-Arts, Grand Palais, Paris

1980 The Young Artists, Artists House Moscow

External links

Russian Face, a Documentary film about Vera Gutkina.