COLLECTION OF WORKS ON JEWISH TRADITIONS
Jewish theme is essential for Michael Rogatchi’s art. It goes throughout his artistic career from its very beginning and it produces new works continuously. Michael’s personal Jewish self-identification is an integral part of his life, his personality and his creativity. Such was the way in which he was raised in his big Jewish family whose origins reflecting the Jewish history, comes from many corners of the world: from Portugal and Hungary from his grandfather, Hungarian Jewish military engineer and officer in the Austrian-Hungarian Imperial Army during the Great War, from Lithuania from his grandmother’s side, and from Italy and Poland from his paternal family side. Thanks to such rich and multi-faced family heritage, Michael’s immersion into the various phenomena and cultural heritage of the world’s Jewry absorbed it in its different dimensions, from Yiddish-speaking world of the Central European Jewry to the Sephardic traditions and heritage, all melted into the same family. His works in oil on his beloved world are bringing this rich and unique perspective into the life, in its artistic interpretation.
His Dance work ( 1995) did win Michael the second prize in Nation-Wide British Ben-Uri Art Event, being selected by the highly esteemed jury which included great masters, like PB Kitaj, and such leading art experts as Sir Nicholas Serota, the head of the Tate in Britain.
Michael’s well-known Yiddish Son work ( 2011) was a special commission for Vilnius Jewish Public Library, the first institution of the kind opened in Lithuania since the end of WWII in December 2011, to be the only art work in oil in the Library’s premises. In 2018, this special work was dedicated to memory of Elie Wiesel.
Michael’s another well-known work My Stones. Jerusalem ( 1993) has become the part of the Permanent Art Collection of the Municipality of Jerusalem, alongside with paintings by Marc Chagall and and other great Jewish masters in that very highly selected collection.
These works are warm, innovative in the way of expression and imaginary, dynamic, and original conceptually – which all is quite an achievement while working on such subject as a tradition.
There is no surprise that such different in their origin and culture monumental Jewish figures as late Leonard Cohen, Simon Wiesenthal or Elie Wiesel all did love Michael’s works in general and on Jewish heritage in particular, and all have had it in their private collections, as many other people and institutions worldwide.
The works from Daily Miracles collections belong to such leading museums in New York, London, Jerusalem and Vilnius, and to many notable private collections.
Many works from this collection are featured in Violin Garden musical vide-essay – please consult Video Presentation page on this site.
Daily Miracle collection has been also published as a popular art brochure.
