SCHOFFMAN: PAINTER by Currado Malaspina

GESTURES SPILLING FROM CRATES

RATTLING TRAFFIC AT DCA FINE ART





Few people realize that the paintings and drawings David Schoffman is exhibiting at DCA this summer are commonly referred to as “The Lost Works.” The pictures literally disappeared after “Yellow Tuesday”, that fateful and largely misunderstood June day in Paris many years ago. Like much of the neighborhood surrounding the Montsouris, David’s studio was looted.

“Mardi Jaune” was a turning point for the School of Pestilence. Our collective uncertainty gave way to lassitude, which in turn submitted to apathy. David was particularly affected. Years of anticipation made him exhausted. With his studio in tatters, stained by the blood of youth, David returned to New York with whatever work he could salvage from the wreckage.

A few years ago, Ricardo de Campos, the Portuguese lace magnate donated a considerable portion of his art collection to the Museu de Arte de São Paulo. Among the works were three paintings and three drawings from Schoffman’s "Rattling Traffic" series. Seeking restitution, (the movie “A Heart More Distant” is based of this), Schoffman was forced into an unnerving period of angry litigation. The pictures were eventually returned.

Perhaps the publicity inspired by this current exhibition will help locate the remaining paintings.