Menachem Gueffen

Expressionist Female Portrait, Indian Ink Drawing on Paper, Seated Woman, 1994

1994

Early Life and Education Menachem Gueffen was born on March 19, 1930, in Haifa, into a Jewish family of Polish origin. In 1949, he began his artistic training at the Bezalel Art School in Jerusalem. He later continued his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1959 to 1963, a decisive period in the development of his pictorial language. Artistic Career and Creative Exile While in Paris, he took part in the Salon des Surindépendants in 1962 and in the Jeune Peinture exhibition at the Musée d’Art Moderne in 1963. He lived in the Latin Quarter, at the heart of the postwar Parisian art scene, where he experienced a strong sense of intellectual and artistic freedom. In 1967, Gueffen moved to London. There, he developed a prolific career, exhibiting regularly at the O’Hana Gallery and Gallery One. In 1977, the Museum of Natural History in New York commissioned an ambitious series of five paintings: The Cycle of Life of Judaism. Final Years in France In 1988, he chose to return to France. He remained highly productive, but felt little support from a country that failed to recognize the talent living quietly in rural Mayenne. Still, he spent the next thirty years there with his wife Judy, who left England to join him. He never stopped painting women — always women — as if trying, through painting, to understand and love them more deeply. This time, however, these works were rarely shown. He kept them for himself. Style and Influences Menachem Gueffen developed a figurative expressionist style, recognizable through his intense colors, angular forms, bold black lines, and obsessive focus on the human figure. His work draws on European Expressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism, while maintaining an ongoing dialogue with the Old Masters, especially Rembrandt, to whom he paid tribute in several works. Recognition and Legacy Menachem Gueffen is listed in the Bénézit Dictionary (1976, 1999) and in the Italian Commanducci. He exhibited in London, Paris, and Jerusalem, and his work is held in several private collections across Europe and the United States. His work still deserves wider rediscovery, especially in France, where it remained underexhibited for many years. Where Can You See Menachem Gueffen’s Works Today? Galerie des Oubliés — several original works can be viewed online and at the gallery Private collections — Europe, Israel, United Kingdom American Museum of Natural History — The Cycle of Life of Judaism series (not on public display)