In the synagogue

Oil, cardboard, 60.5 x 81 cm

The painter Tibor Ernő was born in Oradea in 1885. He studied in Budapest and Paris, at the Julian Academy. He worked in many European cities, then returned to Oradea where he taught at the School of Painting. In 1944 he was deported to Auschwitz. In 1945 he died in Dachau.

Despite the stylized character of his modernist forms, the artist manages with a few brush strokes to restore the expressiveness of the illustrated characters.

Ernő's modernism is not limited to the expressive stylization of forms, but can also be seen in the approach to the color. In a work dominated by browns, the tones of saturated colors, of a small surface, like this complementary pair, yellow-purple, give brilliance to the work.

The composition presents an interior possibly of a synagogue with Jews reading from books. The color palette is kept in harmony with browns, purples, and ochres, with a pronounced graphic character, a trademark of the painter. Also specific to the painter is the thin paste, the light brush, and the use of color of the cardboard, while the background is harnessed in the image.