Great Masters

His first master was Jakimchenko, a painter who had worked under the influence of French Impressionist painters. He then studied with Rerberg and Machkoff who had been one of the founders of the Jack of Diamonds group.

Zack started to exhibit his works in Moscow at 15 and got married in 1917 before leaving Russia for Rome and Florence where he lived until 1921. He then went to Berlin in 1922 and worked for the Russian Theater.

Zack moved afterwards to Paris where he exhibited his works at the Salon des Indpendants and in various galleries. Influenced by his Jewish roots he notably produced many Biblical scenes but decided to become a Christian.

He took part in many exhibitions from 1926 and was listed in the Neo-Humanist group of painters with Christian Brard, Pavel Tchelitchev and Eugene Berman who were advocating a return to reality in opposition to Cubist trends.

During the Second World War Zack sought refuge in an Alpine village and came back in 1945 to Paris where he exhibited his works in many Salons.

He then modified his style turning to abstraction finding that the subject was playing no specific role while tones and forms could express all the feelings he wanted to bring.

Zack took part in several exhibitions in Brussels, London, Venice, Copenhagen, Oslo, Dublin, Basel and Koln and continued to produce theatre and ballet decors and book ilustrations.

However Zack became increasingly interested in sacred art and produced many stained glass works for several churches in France. He also created religious sculptures and reliefs.

Zacks lyrical period started in 1955 through an evolution of signs and forms which made him one of the pioneers of cloud effects. He once said he liked empty spaces the deepness of him being underlined by the presence of forms becoming increasingly material. He also pinpointed the importance of light in his works using tone values to this effect and approaching the watercolour technique.