Israel Broytman - In his own words

My works explore time not as a physical element, but as an aesthetic parameter. They depict the sublime motion of human nature.

Physical objects are complexes of sensations. An individual object in painting is an essence. A particular subject matter represents the ultimate reality, where objects are in quantitative relationships with their backgrounds. Where they exist.

Old objects are living memories, meaningful definitions of time and reality, and existence can be understood consciously through a vanished past. Immanuel Kant’s concept of a “thing in itself” is a psycho-physical or metaphysical reality of an object.

Our inner world is a metaphysical reality. What kinds of symbols are used for metaphysical reality? What kind of code is there in my paintings? Basically, two types - the so-called exteriors and interiors.

Exteriors are nights, still lives, faces - interiors for the outer world, the world beyond us. Interiors are staircases, doors, windows, balconies, chairs.

Musicians tune their instruments before a concert. Painting can tune a human soul, it can be a sort of psychic therapy. It’s important that the spectator become purified and renewed in front of a painting, become reborn.

Brief Biography

Israel Broytman graduated from the Moscow Institute of Art in 1960. In 1966 he moved to St. Petersburg, Russia's cultural capital, where he continued his artistic career. His early works focused on traditional Russian life, but he began to develop his own, non-conformist style.

In 1980 he moved to Toronto, Canada, where his works became increasingly more metaphysical and universal. Broytman's unique style was developed through his use of traditional techniques and newer innovative concepts and subjects.

Initially his works were figurative and focused on images of women. Later his works focused on portraits of everyday objects, landscapes, people and faces. His paintings express feelings and memories from his past; stark and lonely objects are surrounded by life and warmth.