Homage to Robert Capa

Igael Tumarkin (1933 – 2021, Israeli) “Homage to Robert Capa” (circa 1989) Limited edition color silkscreen print, hand signed in pencil by the artist in the lower left, numbered 170/200 in the lower right. The sheet is embossed with the Arches, France stamp and infinity sign, and measures 60 x 80 cm (23.62 x 31.5 inches); it has been matted and placed in a 24.25 x 36-inch black metal frame. The piece reads, “Homage to Robert Capa 1936 – 1989 Pozo Blanco (Cordoba)”. The image is a reference to Capa’s 1936 photograph taken during the Spanish Civil War and is an example of Tumarkin’s collage-like screen prints. In 1989, Tumarkin built a sculpture made of iron and painted red, based on Capa’s famous photo of a republican with a rifle at the time of being killed. The falling soldier is supported by the remains of an artillery gun carriage. (See photo). The structure was installed in an approximate location, a crossroads in Pozoblanco, in a beautiful area of craggy mountains and deep gorges. Literature: Documented in the book "Tumarkin - Prints 1962-1991", Published by Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 1992, item 149, p. 77.

Igael Tumarkin was a sculptor, painter, screen printer, theoretician, and stage designer. He has been considered the “bad boy” of Israeli art due to his controversial work and public statements, often involving harsh political statements expressing and reflecting the reality of Israel: the fluctuation between Western culture and the memory of the Holocaust. A furor ensued upon his being awarded the Israel Prize for Sculpture in 2004.

Robert Capa ((Budapest, 1913 – Indochina, 1954) was a Hungarian-American combat and adventure photographer/photojournalist who covered five different wars: the Spanish Civil War, the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II across Europe, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and the First Indochina War. He became famous for the photo: ‘Death of a Spanish loyalist militiaman. Córdoba, Spain. September, 1936.’ The picture appeared in Life magazine in 1937 and was captioned as, “A Spanish soldier the instant he is dropped by a bullet through the head.” (See photo.)