"Emanuel Luftglas, also known as a set designer for the theater, was also a painter of landscapes, portraits and genre scenes. All of his works project an aura of enchantment or mysticism, a desire to step back from the portrayal of the everyday or earthly to focus on the metaphysical.
The artist developed a unique style for depicting the light in his paintings. Unlike other contemporary Israeli artists, impressionistic depictions of the dazzeling bright Israeli light did not appeal to him. Instead, the light falling on his figures, glowing in the wide-open natural spaces of his landscapes and illuminating the interiors of his genre paintings is soft and diffused, filtered through mellowing, absorbent screens, often leading to the use of a monochromatic palette.
...Luftglas was not a conventional artist; he made no effort to adapt to the popular trends in Israeli art in the '50s and '60s when his style was maturing. The exhibition of his work at this time thus reveals another intriguing and less familiar chapter in the annals of Israeli art." |
