Itzchak Tarkay

Itzchak Tarkay was born in Subotica, on the Yugoslav-Hungarian border. At the age of 9, Tarkay and his family were sent to the Mauthausen concentration camp by the Nazis until Allied liberation freed them a year later.

In 1949, his family immigrated to Israel and was sent to the transit camp for new arrivals at Beer Yaakov. They lived in a kibbutz for several years. In 1951 Tarkay received a scholarship to the Avni Art Academy where he studied under the artist Schwartzman and was mentored by important Israeli artists of the time such as Mokady, Janko, Streichman and Stematsky.

Tarkay's wife is Bruria Tarkay. They have two sons, Adi and Itay Tarkay. Tarkay died in 2012 at the age of 77.[1]

As well as being an acrylic painter and watercolorist, Tarkay was a graphic artist and his rich tapestry of form and color was achieved primarily through the use of the serigraph. In his serigraphs, many colors are laid over one another and used to create texture and transparency. In his later years, Tarkay mentored younger Israeli artists including David Najar, Yuval Wolfson and Mark Kanovich who often visited his studio, worked alongside him and received his critiques. Tarkay was also the only artist to collaborate with Israeli master, Yaacov Agam (1928). He and Agam created two paintings which incorporated both artists’ imagery in a single painting. [2] Tarkay's art is influenced by French Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism, particularly Matisse and Toulouse-Lautrec. His work was exhibited at the International Art Expo in New York City in 1986 and 1987. He has been the subject of three books, published by Dr. Israel Perry. Perry Art Gallery And Park West Gallery, his dealer.

His art is focused on almost dream images of elegant women in classical scenes.

Tarkay's early works were done by him personally to completion, but his later works were drawn by him and then colored in by helping artists on staff. Today, the most important works by Tarkay are those that were done by his hand without assistance from others. [3]

• Visual arts in Israel

• "Itzchak Tarkay 1935 -". Retrieved 2008-02-22.
• "Itzchak Tarkay Biography -". Retrieved 2014-03-24.
• Shapiro, Morris (interviewer) (March 26, 2019). "'I Am Always Painting': A Rare Interview with Artist Itzchak Tarkay". ParkWestGallery.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2020. (2006 interview)