Gotko Jacques (Yankeli Gotkowski)

Born Odessa, Ukraine (1900 - ?)

Jacques Gotko (Yankeli Gotkowski), Flowers, 1931, oil on canvas, 41x34 cm.Jacques Gotko (Yankeli Gotkowski), Flowers, 1931, oil on canvas, 41x34 cm.At the age of five, Jacques Gotko moved with his family to Paris, where he later studied at the École des Beaux Arts. He worked first as an architect, then as a film set designer, and only later decided to devote himself to painting, especially watercolors and pastels. Gotko exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, the Zak Gallery, and had a particularly successful show at the Jean Castel Gallery in 1939. This, however, would be Gotko's last exhibition.

Gotko was arrested in 1942 and was interned in the concentration camp in Compiègne. There he drew and painted scenes of life in the camp; the barbed wire and watchtowers are notable elements in these works. In 1943 Gotko was sent to the concentration camp in Drancy, and from there deported to a death camp.