Henryk Epstein (1891 Lodz - 1944 Auschwitz), On the beach, 1930.

oil, canvas, 33 × 46 cm
Signed and dated p. d.: "H. Epstein/1930"

Exhibited:
- "Masters of the Ecole de Paris. Henri Epstein", Villa la Fleur, Konstancin- -Jeziorna, September 18-December 31, 2015.

Reproduced:
- Artur Winiarski, "Henri Epstein, exhibition catalog," Villa la Fleur, Warsaw 2015, p. 127, cat. no. 50

The seaside views in Epstein's work from the l. 1930s is also associated with a series of compositions, depicting women on the beach. Given that the artist sporadically dated his works, it is not impossible that it is this painting that Barbara and Jerzy Malinowski mention, writing: " (...) Other works were created in 1930. Their dating is determined by the painting Beach (with a date next to the signature - 1930). This painting and the watercolor 'On the Beach' are very bright Fauvist landscapes, painted in the intense midday sun, in which the figures in the foreground and - in the watercolor - the bay with sailboats are depicted synthetically, but without expressionistic exaggerations" (J. Malinowski, B. Brus-Malinowska, In the Circle of École de Paris. Jewish Painters from Poland, Warsaw 2005, p. 125). The idyllic scene depicting two women with a child resting on the beach is maintained in vibrant saturated colors. Contours, wrapping the figures' silhouettes in intense yellow, green and red outlines, add to the composition's expressiveness - the black outline has been kept to a minimum.