Joachim WEINGART (1895-1942), Motherhood, 1925

oil, canvas; 79.5 x 64 cm;
Signed, dated and inscribed p. d.: Weingart / Paris 925;
painting after conservation.

Joachim Weingart was born in Drohobych, educated initially at the School of Art Industry in Weimar, then in Vienna and Berlin in the studio of Alexander Archipenko. After a short stay in Lviv, he went to Paris in the spring of 1923. [...] Probably around 1925 he got married. [...]
The painting on display comes precisely from the period when the artist started a family. This is evidenced not only by the date next to the signature and the inscription "Paris", but also by the subject and the manner of painting. It is during this period that his paintings feature nudes and portraits of women as subjects, often depicted together with children. Definitely less frequently the artist painted still lifes at that time. It can be assumed that the model shown in the painting in question was the artist's wife, who repeatedly appears in his other canvases. Weingart's personal life in the 1920s was definitely reflected in his work. It was this period of Weingart's work that was characterized by a lyrical mood and pastel, pearlescent colors. In 1927, the critic Edward Woroniecki wrote in a review of an exhibition in which Weingart participated about his "colors full of brilliance, avoiding 'all mottling.' Two or three colors with a prudently constructed range are enough for him." Also characteristic of this period is Weingart's use of a black outline, with which he emphasized the solid, but which nevertheless partially merged with the object over time. The artist also used black, as in this painting, to mark the eyes.
Two exhibitions featuring Weingart were held in Paris in 1926 and 1927: at Galerie Aux Quatre Chemins (1926) and Galerie Jacques Callot (1927); French critics wrote of the first: "Some of the paintings, for example Maternite [Maternity], have a charm that is hard to resist..." and a year later it was emphasized that this was true painting, the work of a painter sensitive and passionate about all aspects of life [who] must, however, beware of the ease of brushwork of which Delacroix spoke."
In a review of the same exhibition, the Polish critic, the aforementioned Edward Woroniecki, described his "work as synthetic realism with a very individualized tinge [where the artist] takes a subject from nature, but works it out in terms of painting problems. P Weingart paints or draws with flair, emphasizing details when necessary without even retreating from their partial deformation (abbreviation sharper or thickening of the leg, arm, shoulder." This interpretation explains the deformation of the hand of a woman holding a child, noticeable in the painting on display.
[excerpted from the expert report to the painting by Irena Ball, dated December 19, 2022].