Gershon Iskowitz
(1919 - 1988) RCA
Previously Sold Works
GERSHON ISKOWITZ
Parry Sound
oil on canvas board
signed, titled and dated 1956 on the reverse
16 x 20 ins ( 40.6 x 50.8 cms )
Auction Estimate: $3,000.00 - $5,000.00
Price Realized $4,560.00
Sale date: April 19th 2022
GERSHON ISKOWITZ
Untitled Abstract
watercolour
signed and dated 1968 lower right
18.75 x 24.75 ins ( 47.6 x 62.9 cms ) ( sheet )
Auction Estimate: $2,000.00 - $3,000.00
Price Realized $3,360.00
Sale date: November 30th 2021
GERSHON ISKOWITZ
Untitled Abstraction
watercolour
signed and dated 1977 lower right
17 x 22 ins ( 43.2 x 55.9 cms ) ( sheet )
Auction Estimate: $1,200.00 - $1,500.00
Price Realized $2,880.00
Sale date: March 30th 2021
GERSHON ISKOWITZ
Untitled Abstraction
watercolour
signed and dated 1965 lower right
18 x 23.5 ins ( 45.7 x 59.7 cms ) ( sight )
Auction Estimate: $2,000.00 - $3,000.00
Price Realized $2,880.00
Sale date: April 19th 2022
GERSHON ISKOWITZ
Abstraction, 1977
watercolour on paper
signed and dated 1977 lower left; inscribed “C74” on the reverse; unframed
17 x 22 ins ( 43.2 x 55.9 cms )
Auction Estimate: $2,000.00 - $3,000.00
Price Realized $2,400.00
Sale date: December 15th 2020
GERSHON ISKOWITZ
Abstraction, 1977
watercolour on paper
signed and dated 1977 lower left; inscribed “C68” on the reverse; unframed
17 x 22 ins ( 43.2 x 55.9 cms )
Auction Estimate: $2,000.00 - $3,000.00
Price Realized $2,160.00
Sale date: December 15th 2020
GERSHON ISKOWITZ
Abstraction, 1977
watercolour on paper
signed and dated 1977 lower left; inscribed “C100” on the reverse; unframed
17 x 22 ins ( 43.2 x 55.9 cms )
Auction Estimate: $2,000.00 - $3,000.00
Price Realized $2,160.00
Sale date: December 15th 2020
GERSHON ISKOWITZ
Untitled Abstraction
watercolour
signed and dated 1977 lower right
17 x 22 ins ( 43.2 x 55.9 cms ) ( sheet )
Auction Estimate: $1,200.00 - $1,500.00
Price Realized $2,040.00
Sale date: February 2nd 2021
GERSHON ISKOWITZ
Untitled Abstraction
watercolour
signed and dated 1977 lower right
16.75 x 22 ins ( 42.5 x 55.9 cms ) ( sheet )
Auction Estimate: $1,200.00 - $1,500.00
Price Realized $2,040.00
Sale date: February 2nd 2021
GERSHON ISKOWITZ
Abstraction in Blues, Reds, Yellow, Greens and Violets
watercolour
signed and dated 1977 lower left
17 x 22 ins ( 43.2 x 55.9 cms ) ( sheet )
Auction Estimate: $1,500.00 - $2,000.00
Price Realized $1,840.00
Sale date: June 13th 2018
GERSHON ISKOWITZ
Untitled
watercolour
signed and dated 1977-78 lower right; dated to the gallery label on the reverse; Iskowitz Foundation Inventory Number C-193
17 x 21.5 ins ( 43.2 x 54.6 cms ) ( sheet )
Auction Estimate: $2,000.00 - $3,000.00
Price Realized $1,920.00
Sale date: July 25th 2023
GERSHON ISKOWITZ
Untitled (Parry Sound Variation Work)
watercolour
signed and dated 1958 lower left; inscribed “C226” on the reverse; unframed
15 x 22 ins ( 38.1 x 55.9 cms ) ( sheet )
Auction Estimate: $900.00 - $1,200.00
Price Realized $1,800.00
Sale date: June 24th 2021
GERSHON ISKOWITZ
Untitled Abstract (Blue and Yellow)
watercolour
signed and dated 1978 lower left
13 x 22 ins ( 33 x 55.9 cms )
Auction Estimate: $2,000.00 - $3,000.00
Price Realized $1,800.00
Sale date: November 7th 2023
Consignments
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Gershon Iskowitz Biography
(1919 - 1988) RCA
Born in Kielce, Poland, in 1919, Gershon Iskowitz immigrated to Canada in 1948 after surviving two Nazi concentration camps (Auschwitz labour camp in Poland and later Buchenwald, near Weimar, Germany). As a child, Iskowitz had an aptitude for art. He created advertisements for his local movie theatre in a section of his family’s living room that his father portioned off to create a small studio.
Following the Nazi occupation of Poland, Iskowitz was placed in the Kielce Ghetto. Once liquidated, Iskowitz was imprisoned in concentration camps in Poland and Germany. While he continued to make drawings during this period only two survive: Condemned (1944-46) and Buchenwald (1944-45). Upon liberation, he lived in the Feldafing Displaced Persons Camp and audited courses at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich.
Upon receiving a temporary travel document from the Military Government for Germany, issued to stateless people, Iskowitz traveled to Canada via the United States in 1948 where his extended family greeted him at Union Station in Toronto. Until 1954, Iskowitz’s paintings focused on memories from his imprisonment. In the same year, he was included in the Canadian Society of Graphic Art exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) alongside Painters Eleven artist Oscar Cahén.
By the 1960s Iskowitz’s style transformed from gestural to abstract. He became interested in exploring the Canadian landscape rather than his wartime memories during this period. After exhibiting at Gallery Moos in October 1964, for the first time, Iskowitz formed a close relationship with the owner, Walter Moos. Moos managed Iskowitz’s career and finances from this point forward. After receiving a Canada Council grant in 1967 he flew to Churchill, Manitoba. Entranced by aerial views he saw while in flight, Iskowitz began incorporating this perspective into his art.
Iskowitz was selected to represent Canada alongside Walter Redinger at the Venice Biennale in 1972 where he displayed four of these areal diptychs. In 1982, the AGO put on a retrospective exhibition of Iskowitz’s life work. After the retrospective exhibition had concluded, Iskowitz set up a foundation that would provide financial support to artists through an annual monetary prize, with assistance from Moos.
Literature Source: Ihor Holubizky, Gershon Iskowitz: Life and Work. Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2018 (https://aci-iac.ca/art-books/gershon-iskowitz)
We extend our thanks to Danie Klein, York University graduate student in art history, for writing and contributing this artist biography.
