There were many Jews, for the most part, emigrants from countries of Eastern Europe, who have come to Paris among many foreign painters, during first ten years of the twentieth century to hope of making career. They have united into association “the Monparnas circle”, and many of them have acquired world-wide and unfading glory after relatively short time. Beginning from the year 1907 and concluding short period after the First World War painters and sculptors experimented desperately with stylistic novelties introduced by Anri Matiss and Pablo Picasso who were dominant vanguard figures of that period. They also were under big influence of post-impressionists Gogen, Van Gog and Sesann.
     Origin of Jewish painters of Paris school was very different. There were rich and poor, religious orthodoxies and reformists; their decorative systems were different. Except Shagal and Mane-Katz they quite did not paint pictures on Jewish themes. They consolidated on the base of general views on problems of innovation in fine arts rather than their origin. Remarkable friendly relations have been built between them. Shagal explained the reason why he had come to Paris: I wanted to see by my own eyes that I heard about so long ago: this revolution of vision, this alternation of paints and lines which merged skillfully into one color, one form. I could not see it in my town because the sun of fine art radiated only over Paris.
      Mark Shagal, Sonya Delone, Amedeo Modelyani, Eli Nadelman, Zhul Pasken, Mane-Katz and Maks Veber are those painters who arrived to Paris until 1910. During the First World War many of them left Paris: Eli Nadelman made his home in New-York; Shagal and Mane-Katz left for their native land Russia in 1913; Kisling went to serve in the French army. Those of them who had returned to Paris again have found it flourishing but at the same time the town of strengthening conservatism in politics, social sphere and artistic life. Nevertheless, many art dealers, collectors, critics promoting popularity and thus commercial success for many of those painters appeared in the French capital during decade after end of the war. In spite of that they were foreigners, many their picturesque and color inventions as well as found by them new means of expression became determining for fine art of the French modern in the period between two world wars.
     Magic and fascinating Paris of 1920-ties is the time of modern fine art ascent. At this time its Jewish painters achieved tremendous success and became often exhibiting towards 1920. At a moment art critics began turning attention onto their Jewish origin. This one most likely and in spite of will provoked growth of nationalism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism. The painters of Jewish origin were recognized by society as outstanding masters but remained here foreigners. They were not accepted for associations by other avant-gardes appeared in Paris on the wave of the First World War, such as Dadaists and surrealists…
     ТеMeanwhile not only representatives of Bohemia but also rich people from privileged circles began communicate with Zhul Pasken and Amedeo Modelyani. Hana Orlova works over sculptural portraits of Paris elite. Zhul Pasten draws prostitutes and Moses Kisling paints his mysterious and at the same time gloomy pictures, makes the portrait of a model Kiki. Expressionist artistic style of Haim Sutin – the most disputable and romantic figure of “Monparnas circle” – was depreciatingly named critics as a German word “schmiermalerei”, to underline the painter’s foreignness. They considered his pictures ugly and misshapen, despite success and recognition which Sutin achieved.
     The French economy has failed in 1931, and Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933. Soon after that French art critic Rozhe Brel, paying attention to increasing xenophobia and anti-Semitism in the world of art, wrote an article about painters of Jewish origin. He tried to represent their expressionist style within frames of national traditions of French fine art identifying it as variation of fovism. Fine art historian Romi Golan wrote in catalogue for “Monparnas” exhibition that Brell has tried to find slightly such to permit taking away the stain of nationality from painters, dealers and collectors of Jewish origin and instead to show their contribution into mental life of society.
     In 1937 the Nazis have organized Munich shameful exhibition “Degenerative art”. It included pictures by Shagal and other modern painters, not only Jews. In 1938 monumental sculpture by Zhak Lipshiz “Prometheus throttling the carrion-crow”, created for the World exhibition – 1937 in Paris, has been destroyed in an emphatic manner. Mark Shagal, Sonya Delone and some other painters went for French province in 1939, and later left the country at all. When the war began Germans have imprisoned Mane-Katz. Marcuse and Sutin hided from Nazis, and when they fell ill it was not possible to call for a doctor. Thus two great painters have perished.
     Beginning from 1940 German occupants began to forbid organizing exhibitions of painters-foreigners in Paris. And after the Second World War expressionism with its vivid force and passion evolved in “Monparnas circle” of painters-Jews has been perceived unconditionally as an integral part of French fine art…

                                                                                                               Vitaly Orlov (New-York)        http://www.vestnik.com