Born: 1904 Łódź, Russian Empire (now Poland)
Died: 1992 Tel Aviv, Israel
Year of Migration to the UK: 1932
Other name/s: Guta Reisfeld, Gucia Vardy
Biography
Painter Guta Vardy (née Reisfeld) was born into a Jewish family in Łódź, Russian Empire (now Poland), in 1904. In 1926, she immigrated to Palestine, later moving to London in 1932 to join her husband, Zvi Vardy, who was a student at the time. The couple lived at 22 Parliament Court, Hampstead (an area popular with Jewish émigrés) and had a daughter, Denorah. From 1951, Vardy felt a growing need to express her emotions and impressions through art. She initially joined a small local art school but left after a few weeks, finding its structure and guidance too restrictive. However, after a brief hiatus, her early works gained her entry into St Martin's School of Art. Despite this early formal education, in 1970, Alfred Daniels highlighted her as an artist who had largely developed her practice independently, without significant external guidance. During the 1970s, she relocated from London to Israel, settling at 104 Haifa Road in Tel Aviv. Despite this move, she retained strong ties with the John Whibley Gallery in London, which continued to represent her and organise solo exhibitions of her work, ensuring her ongoing presence in the London art scene.
Vardy worked primarily with oil on canvas in the traditions of both Impressionism and Expressionism. Vardy’s early still lifes, such as her 1951 oil painting of everyday objects, exhibit a muted, earthy colour palette reminiscent of Cézanne. Over time, her style darkened, employing deep greens, browns, and blacks to evoke sombre, sometimes menacing atmospheres. The boldness and assertiveness of her canvases, combined with her dynamic use of line and form, align her with German Expressionism, showing the influence of 20th century masters, such as Alexej von Jawlensky and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, while her often exaggerated elongation of the figure brings to mind the work of Amedeo Modigliani. Her compelling portraits are not realistic but, rather, imaginative interpretations of her emotional and intellectual engagement with her sitters. Her non-naturalistic palette, vigorous brushstrokes, and solid compositions underscore her expressive approach. These works possess a domestic intimacy and a modernist sensibility. With an intuitive grasp of weight and volume, her later works are raw, even aggressive, reflecting a deep engagement with nature and the human condition.
While in London, Vardy was active in the UK art scene, while also exhibiting in France, Israel and the USA. She had several solo exhibitions at the John Whibley Gallery in London and participated in several group exhibitions at the Ben Uri Art Society (1956, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1965 and 1968) and at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition (1959, 1965). Her still life paintings were exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists and the Hampstead Arts Council’s Open-Air Exhibition in 1956. The same year, her portrait Woman in a Hat was displayed by the National Society of Painters, Sculptors and Engravers. Vardy also showed with the London Group. In addition, her work reached an international audience. In 1957, she exhibited with the National Society in Paris, where critics praised her ability to evoke the poetic atmosphere of landscapes in Arles and Perugia (Smith, 1957, p. 14). Her portraits, characterised by dreamy and somewhat melancholic expressions, marked her as a sensitive Impressionist painter (Smith, 1957, p. 14). Vardy also maintained a connection to Israel. In the 1950s, she donated works to the Ein Harod Museum after meeting museum staff at the Ben Uri Art Gallery in London. Her painting Still Life Apples featured in the 1958 group Exhibition of Recent Acquisitions, organised by Ben Uri in conjunction with the Friends of the Art Museums of Israel. Her pieces in a 1969 solo exhibition at the Whibley gallery were described as ‘instinctive’ and ‘uninhibited,’ (Stone, 1969, p.49). After immigrating to Israel in the 1970s, she held a solo exhibition at the Old Jaffa Gallery in Tel Aviv in 1972. In 1975, she represented Israel at the 20th International Exhibition at the Galerie Internationale in New York, alongside artists from around the world.
Vardy was a member of numerous London-based arts institutions, as well as several international organisations. Her memberships included the National Society of Painters, Sculptors and Engravers; Free Painters and Sculptors; United Society of Artists; Hampstead Arts Council; and the Ben Uri. Internationally, she was affiliated with Art Guide International, based at the Galerie Internationale in New York, and was also a member of the International Association of Plastic Arts, headquartered in Paris. Guta Vardy died in 1992, most likely in Tel Aviv, Israel. In the UK public domain, in 2025, Ben Uri Gallery and Museum was donated hundreds of paintings by Vardy, accompanied by archival letters, exhibition catalogues, newspaper clippings, drawings and photographs.
Related books
- Peter Stone, ‘Distortions without creepiness’, The Jewish Chronicle, 14 March 1969, p. 49
- Renee Carvalho et al., ‘Guta Vardy’, La Revue modern, 1 November 1963, p. 5
- Alfred Daniels, ‘Working on your own’, The Artist, Vol. 79, No. 2, 1960, pp. 43-45
- F.G.S., ‘One Man Shows’, The Jewish Chronicle, 13 March 1959, p. 34
- R. Smith, ‘Guta Vardy’, La Revue Moderne, 1 June 1957, p. 14
Public collections
Related organisations
- Ben Uri Art Gallery (member )
- Free Painters and Sculptors (member )
- Hampstead Artists Council (member)
- National Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers (member)
- St Martin's School of Art (student )
- United Society of Artists (member)
Related web links
- Ben Uri archives 1
- Ben Uri archives 2
- Eastbourne Auctions
- Israel Museum, Information Centre for Israeli Art
- Live Auctioneers
- Louise Kosman
- Still Life
- The Sale Room
- Two Poems website
Selected exhibitions
- 20th International (group show), Galerie Internationale, New York, USA (1975)
- Guta Vardy (solo exhibition), Old Jaffa Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel (1972)
- Guta Vardy (solo exhibition), John Whibley Gallery, London (1959, 1960, 1965, 1967, 1969)
- Various group shows, Ben Uri Art Society, London (1956, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1965 and 1968)
- Open Air Exhibition (group show), Hampstead Arts Council, London (1956, 1966)
- Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (group show), Royal Academy, London (1959, 1965)
- Le Salon (group show), Paris (1961, 1962)
- Salon de la National Society de Londres, Paris (1957)
- London Group and the Royal British Artists (group show), Suffolk Street, London (1956)
- National Society Exhibition (group show), Royal Institute Galleries, London (1956)
