A Familiar Feeling

'A Familiar Feeling' is an original acrylic painting on canvas hand signed in pigment by the artist. A Certificate of Authenticity is included. Professionally framed.

Itzchak Tarkay was born in 1935 in Subotica on the Yugoslav-Hungarian border. In 1944, at the age of 9, Tarkay and his family were sent to the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp by the Nazis. They remained there until the Allied Forces liberated the camp in 1945. When his family returned to Subotica, he developed an interest in art. Tarkay won his first award for excellence in painting while in school.

In 1949, his family immigrated to Israel, where they were sent to a transit camp for new arrivals at Be’er Ya’akov. They lived in a kibbutz for several years. In 1951, Tarkay received a scholarship to the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. After a year, Tarkay left the school due to financial circumstances at home. To continue his education, he studied under Yosef Schwartzman, a well-known art teacher, until his mobilization into the Israeli Army.

After Tarkay’s military service ended, he traveled to Tel Aviv and enrolled in the prestigious Avni Institute of Art and Design. At the academy, Tarkay worked under important Israeli artists of the time, such as Moshe Mokady, Marcel Janko, Yehezkel Streichman, and Avigdor Stematsky. He graduated in 1956, and the results of his studies culminated in his first exhibition at the age of 26.

Despite his initial success, Tarkay withdrew from painting. He rarely picked up a brush for the next 15 years, waiting for what he called “the opportune moment to begin again.” After receiving acclaim for a one-man exhibition in Tel Aviv in 1975, he decided to take up painting again. In 1977, Tarkay sought out mentorship from fellow Israeli artist Moshe Rosenthalis. He painted with Rosenthalis for three years, and his distinct style evolved during this time.

Tarkay received worldwide recognition during the International Artexpo of New York in 1986. Here, the artist met Park West Gallery Founder and CEO Albert Scaglione. Their fateful encounter eventually led to an exclusive partnership between Tarkay and Park West. Following the artist’s death, Park West Gallery acts as his official estate.

Tarkay often expressed how much he enjoyed meeting his collectors and working with other artists. In the later years, he shared his gift by mentoring younger Israeli artists, including David Najar, Yuval Wolfson, and Mark Kanovich. They often visited Tarkay’s studio, working alongside him and benefitting from his critiques.

Itzchak Tarkay is recognized as a leading representative of a new generation of figurative artists. The inspiration for his work lies with French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. He held artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Cézanne, Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Henri Matisse in high regard. As a result, one can see the color sophistication of Matisse and drawing style of Toulouse-Lautrec in Tarkay’s body of work.

He died unexpectedly on June 3, 2012.