Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 11

Calman Shemi
Large Israeli Colorful Metal Wall Sculpture Painting Circus Scene Calman Shemi

1998

About the Item

Calman Shemi (1939-) Laser cut metal wall sculpture 3D Titled "Circus" Signed on the front lower left edge, and signed, numbered, and titled verso. Marked, Jerusalem Limited edition, 2/99 (I don't know how many were actually made) Approx. 34.5" x 35.5" Depicts weightlifter, acrobats, figure on unicycle, clown with umbrella, and acrobat under the circus big top tent. Calman Shemi, sculptor and painter, was born in Argentina in 1939. A graduate of the School of Sculpture and Ceramics in Mendoza, he studied under the Italian-Argentinian sculptor Libero Badii whom he credits with putting him on the right path. “He taught me principals, not only related to sculpture, but human and philosophic principals. Shemi also carefully studied the work of such masters as Pablo Picasso, Caravaggio, Frank Stella and Henri Matisse. “From each one of these great artists I learned something from observing them,” he says. In 1961, at the age of 20, Shemi immigrated to Israel and joined Kibbutz Carmia of which he was a member for twenty years. There he worked in agriculture and also as a sculptor working with wood and clay. Several of his large-scale fiberglass and polyester projects are situated in public buildings. He was a student of German-Israeli sculptor Rudi Lehmann, a pioneer of the artistic movement known as “Canaanism.” Canaanite art was an effort to create a direct relationship with the land, bypassing historic Jewish connotations—hence the land’s primordial name is used. Canaanite works, with an emphasis on the interaction of simple shapes, bear a deliberate resemblance to the sculpture and ritual art of early civilizations of the Middle East prior to Judaism, always with an eye to the fusion of man and the land itself. Though sculpture dominated his early years as an artist, in the mid ’70s Shemi developed the idea of the “soft painting” medium. Beginning with a color drawing done to scale, Shemi layers onto the drawing irregularly shaped pieces of variously textured and colored fabrics. Using a threadless 9,000-needle sewing machine, the fabrics are meshed to one another and to the background, resulting in vibrant carpet tapestry compositions infused with exuberant color and explosive movement. These are neither aubusson nor pile but more of a felt wall hanging style. Over the years, Shemi has continued to challenge himself with new artistic mediums, developing two more techniques of painting: “Lacquer paintings” and “window paintings.” He creates his Lacquer Paintings by applying vibrant colors to wood or metal panel that has been gilded with gold or silver leaf, and sometimes both. After the paint has thoroughly dried, many layers of lacquer are applied to the surface giving it a glowing effect. Between each layer of lacquer the piece is hand-polished to give the surface its very shiny look. Shemi’s “lacquer” and “window” paintings are reminiscent of ancient techniques used centuries ago in Japan and China. Similar in the bright colorful mediterranean beaute of David Dudu Gerstein. Shemi concludes, “All of the art that I create is full of optimism and beauty. That’s all. Simple, very simple.” During the past eighteen years Shemi has held more than seventy one-man shows in the U.S., Japan, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Israel. His works can be seen in many public and private collections around the world. Several of Shemi's large-scale fiberglass and polyester projects are situated in various public buildings throughout the world. During the last years, Shemi has worked intensively with wall sculpture laser-cut steel, his new field of expression. He was in the group exhibition Reunion: Rudi Lehmann and Disciples at the Haifa Museum of Art, 1989 Artists: Rudolph Rudi Lehmann, Hedwig Grossmann Lehmann, Doron Bar Adon, Raya Bar Adon, Shoshana Heimann, Dan Zaretsky, Yigal Miron, Pinchas Eshet, Menashe Kadishman, Calman Shemi. Over the last fifteen years, he has held more than seventy one-man-shows in the USA, Japan, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Israel. Calman Shemi has achieved an art expression that has received international acclaim and acceptance. Very Appropriate for Memphis Milano Style interiors. Bright 1980s Artwork.
  • Creator:
    Calman Shemi (1939, Argentinian)
  • Creation Year:
    1998
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 34.5 in (87.63 cm)Width: 35.5 in (90.17 cm)Depth: 4 in (10.16 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    good, minor wear. please see photos.
  • Gallery Location:
    Surfside, FL
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU38210119502
More From This SellerView All
  • Large Metal Sculpture Wall Hanging 3D Painting New York City Whimsical Pop Art
    By Yuval Mahler
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Large painted metal wall hanging sculpture by Yuval Mahler (Israeli, b. 1951). Hand signed "Y. Mahler" recto. (it is not numbered or editioned and might be unique). it is done in a glossy enamel paint on metal. The Big Apple, NYC, with gangsters, jazz musicians, Statue of Liberty, architectural skyscrapers, dancing couples, taxi drivers, bicycle riders...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Metal

  • Girl on a Buick Painting on Metal Cut Out Sculpture Wall Hanging
    By Seymour Chwast
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Seymour Chwast, B. 1931, American, 'Girl on a Buick', Painted Sheet Metal. A label on the reverse reads: "Seymour Chwast, 'Girl on a Buick', Metal Cut-Out, $2,000" Provenance: Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery, Kent CT Seymour Chwast (born August 18, 1931) is an American graphic designer, illustrator, and type designer. Chwast was born in Bronx, New York, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Cooper Union in 1951. With Milton Glaser, Edward Sorel, and Reynold Ruffins, he founded Push Pin Studios in 1954. Often referred to as "the left-handed designer," Chwast's unique graphic design melded social commentary and a distinctive style of illustration. Today, he continues to work and is principal at The Pushpin Group, Inc. in New York City. In 1979, he was hired by McDonald's to design on the first box for their Happy Meals. He is the font designer of Chwast Buffalo, Fofucha, Loose Caboose NF, and Weedy Beasties NF. He is a member of Alliance Graphique International (AGI). In the pantheon of American (nay, world) illustration, he stands, albeit slightly shorter and a little more rumpled, beside N.C. Wyeth, J. C. Leyendecker, and Normal Rockwell...
    Category

    20th Century American Modern Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Metal

  • Large Oil Painting Of Cartoony Camouflage Tank in Illustration Style
    By Seymour Chwast
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Seymour Chwast (born August 18, 1931) is an American graphic designer, illustrator, and type designer. Chwast was born in Bronx, New York, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Cooper Union in 1951. With Milton Glaser, Edward Sorel...
    Category

    20th Century American Modern Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Paint, Board

  • Judaica Painting w Sculpture Terra Cotta Jewish Couple Israeli Artist Kanovich
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Original Painting: Terracotta Relief With Acrylic Painting on Wood Panel Hand signed These works are paintings with a 3D carved sculpture dimension to them, fusing sculpture with painting Mixed media on board depicting a romantic couple, a woman seated on a man's lap. Mark Kanovich...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Folk Art Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Terracotta, Acrylic, Wood Panel

  • Red White Blue Americana Wall Hanging Painting Sculpture American Flag Motif
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Painted wood wall hanging sculpture "Red, White and Blue," (and gold) 2008 Stamped signed with initials, date and edition 2/5 Oded Halahmy, Abstract Modernist artist, was born in Iraq in the old city of Baghdad in 1938, the artist came from a family of Orthodox Jews with deep roots in ancient...
    Category

    Early 2000s Pop Art Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Wood, Paint

  • Philippe Cognee Carved Painting Expressionist Wood Relief Sculpture African Art
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Roughly hewn and painted, carved wooden sculpture. Hand signed and dated. Provenance Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, (accompanied with copy of original invoice dated 1986.) This was from his show Out of Africa. Expressionist paintings and carved reliefs at the Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago His first one-man exhibition in the United States, the show featured multidimensional and multi-media work with influences from Africa and nature. Philippe Cognée...
    Category

    1980s Neo-Expressionist Figurative Sculptures

    Materials

    Wood, Oil

You May Also Like
  • Dawn - 9/398
    By Carole A. Feuerman
    Located in Miami, FL
    Painted bronze with stone base. Limited and signed edition number 9 of 398. Carole A. Feuerman (born 1945) is an American sculptor and author working in Hyperrealism. She is one of the three major artists credited with starting the movement in the late 1970s. She is the only woman to sculpt in this style. Her career is highlighted by iconic figurative works of swimmers and dancers. She has been included in exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery; the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia; the Venice Biennale; and Palazzo Strozzi Palace in Florence, Italy, among others. Growing up in New York, Feuerman was deterred from being an artist. She attended Hofstra University, Temple University, and graduated from the school of Visual Arts in New York City to begin her career as an illustrator. During the early 1970s she went by the artist’s name Carole Jean, illustrating for The New York Times and creating album covers for Alice Cooper and the Rolling Stones. In 1981, Feuerman was chosen by a jury at the Heckscher Museum in Long Island where she exhibited. After this she was invited to participate in the ‘Learning through the Arts Program’ at the Guggenheim Museum. Feuerman received the Charles D. Murphy Sculpture Award in 1981. In 1982 she received the Amelia Peabody Award for sculpture. In 2016, she received Best in Show Award for her sculpture ‘Mona Lisa’ by the Huan Tai Museum. The sculpture was acquired for their permanent collection. Feuerman has also been awarded the Medici Prize by the City of Florence, First Prize at the Beijing Biennale, and the Austrian Biennale, and in 2008 she received First Prize in the Olympic Fine Art exhibition in Beijing. The piece was acquired by the Olympic Museum. She has taught, lectured, and given workshops at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Solomon Guggenheim Museum. In 2011, she founded the Carole A. Feuerman Sculpture Foundation. Her artworks are owned by eighteen museums, as well as in the collections of the City of Peekskill, New York, the City of Sunnyvale California, President and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Dr. Henry Kissinger, the Mikhail Gorbachev Art Foundation, Mr. Steven A. Cohen, Alexandre Grendene Bartelle, and the Malcolm Forbes Magazine Collection...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures

    Materials

    Bronze

  • Blue Moon
    By Seunghwui Koo
    Located in Palm Beach, FL
    "Moon" from the famous Series "People", ceramic and acrylic on wood panel, D: 36 inches In Korean culture, the moon is a beacon of hope and wish. Blue Moon i...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Ceramic, Acrylic, Wood Panel

  • Moon
    By Seunghwui Koo
    Located in Palm Beach, FL
    "Moon" from the famous Series "People", ceramic and acrylic on wood panel, D: 36 inches "Moon" is comprised of 10,000 handmade pigs. The work has many different topographical feature...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Ceramic, Acrylic, Wood Panel

  • People (Terra-cotta)
    By Seunghwui Koo
    Located in Palm Beach, FL
    "People", 2015, Terra-cotta on wood panel, 48" x 48" x 4 inches "People" is comprised of 12,000 handmade pigs. The work has many different topographical features and is visually stri...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Ceramic, Acrylic, Wood Panel

  • People #Black & White
    By Seunghwui Koo
    Located in Palm Beach, FL
    Dark & white diptych "People" is comprised of 24,000 handmade pigs. The work has many different topographical features and is visually striking. Each pig figurine measures 0.5" x 1" ...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Ceramic, Acrylic, Wood Panel

  • AFFIRMATIVE ACTION - Wall Hanging Sculpture w/ Oil Paint, Flowers & Vinyl
    Located in Signal Mountain, TN
    In AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, Samuel Dunson creates an epic work that encompasses generations, drawing upon his own personal creative history and inspirations t...
    Category

    2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Glitter, Acrylic, Vinyl

Recently Viewed

View All