Alexander Wissotzky
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| Born: | |
|---|---|
| 1959, Crimea | |
| Died: | |
| Wissotzky 2006, Galtchansky 2008, Czech Republic | |
| Artist: | |
| mixed media, collaborative artists | |
| Description: | |
| a married couple who collaborated together to produce art that harked back to nostalgic romantic past |
Alexander Wissotzky was the name taken by a married couple, Tanya Wissotzky and Alexander Galtchansky who collaborated together to make art.
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Background
Alexander Wissotzky were actually two artists who were married and collaborated together to make their art. Tanya Wissotzky was born in 1959 in the Crimea. She started to study art in Simferopol specializing in painting. She then moved to Kiev to further her studies. There she met her husband Alexander Galtchansky who was studying book illustration. He was also born in 1959 in the Crimea and began his art studies in Dnepropetrovsk. Galtchansky also decided to continue his art education at the Kiev Institute of the Arts. After they fell in love and got married they began to collaborate artistically to produce their works of art.
Israel
With the opening up of the Soviet Union, Wissotzky and Alexander took the opportunity to emigrate to Israel. Working in a combination of acrylic, pen and ink, and collage the couple produced art that is both nostalgic and romantic. Their work harks back to a time, the 1920’s and a place, Paris, which helps conjure up the image of love, and this makes their art very accessible to the general public. Some of Wissotzky and Alexander’s mixed media pieces remind one of figures in the ‘Belle Epoch’ while their still life paintings of flowers seem to step out of an English garden guide.
Czechoslovakia
Wissotzky and Alexander found it difficult to adjust to life in Israel and eventually they returned to Europe settling in the Czech republic. They continued to collaborate working together and sequentially on their art, both signing each piece Alexander Wissotzky and it is not possible to discern who did exactly what. Tanya unfortunately developed cancer and died in 2006. Her husband, finding it hard to live without her, died two years later in 2008.
Legacy
Wissotzky and Alexander exhibited their work widely during their lifetime and there is a book about their life and work ‘G.Alexander and Wissotzky T.’ Their work can be found online and in permanent exhibitions, galleries and collections around the world including the International Conference Center in the center of Jerusalem.