Marcel Janco, who passed away on April 21, 1984, is best known as one of the founders of the Dada movement, an avant-garde art movement of the early twentieth century that rejected traditional art aesthetics. Janco’s history, however, is that of a man impassioned with finding new ways of expressing the world around him. After leaving the Dadaist movement, he was involved in numerous types of artistic movements and also spent a great deal of time in developing new styles of architecture.

As was the case with many European Jews, the rise of nationalism and the growing power of the Nazis in Germany inspired in Janco a new perspective on his Jewish identity. He found himself faced with outright anti-Semitism and a growing sympathy for Zionism. He visited Pre-State of Israel (Palestine) and made arrangements for his family to emigrate, but they did not do so until after the Bucharest Pogrom in 1941.

Janco’s career did not slow down with his change of country. While incorporating both his traumatic experiences and his new world in the burgeoning country of Israel, he continued to explore new ideas in art and architecture. He networked extensively with other artists and was one of the founders of the New Horizons artist group. One of Janco’s greatest contributions to Israel’s art community was the development of an artist’s village named Ein Hod. Ein Hod is located near Haifa. Today, in addition to being home to numerous artists, Ein Hod is also the location of the Janco Dada Museum.

This Treat was originally posted April 21, 2017.

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