Tarkay's art is influenced by French Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism, particularly Matisse and Toulouse-Lautrec. His work was exhibited at the International Art Expo in New York City in 1986 and 1987. He has been the subject of three books, published by Dr. Israel Perry. Perry Art Gallery And Park West Gallery, his dealer. His art is focussed on almost dream images of elegant women in classical scenes which draw you into an imaginary world. Few realize that Tarkay's early works were done by him personally to completion, but his later works were drawn by him and then colored in by helping artists on staff. This increased production, but that additional inventory reduced value of his total body of work. Today, the most important works by Tarkay are those that were done by his hand without assistance from others. Few dealers recognize this and many of Tarkay's pieces are not sorted out to distinguish his works from the works done by helper assistants to Tarkay. The value of "original" Tarkay works should increase in value, as Tarkay collectors begin to recognize the limited number of original works he made as opposed to the greater production which came later in Tarkay's career! Dr.Linda Hyman Phd., Bill Smith
Personal life
At the age of 9, Tarkay and his family were sent to the Mathausen Concentration Camp by the Nazis until Allied liberation freed them a year later. In 1949 his family immigrated to Israel and was sent to the transit camp for new arrivals at Beer Yaakov. They lived in a kibbutz for several years and in 1951 Tarkay received a scholarship to the Avni Art Academy where he studied under the artist Schwartzman and was mentored by other important Israeli artists of the time such as Mokady, Janko, Streichman and Stematsky. As well as being an acrylic painter and watercolorist, Tarkay was a master graphic artist and his rich tapestry of form and color was achieved primarily through the use of the serigraph. In his serigraphs, many colors are laid over one another and used to create texture and transparency. In the later years of his life, Tarkay shared his gifts by mentoring younger Israeli artists including, David Najar, Yuval Wolfson and Mark Kanovich who often visited his studio, worked alongside him and received his critiques. Tarkay was also the only artist to collaborate with Israeli master, Yaacov Agam. He and Agam created two paintings which incorporated both artists’ imagery in a single painting. Tarkay's wife is Bruria Tarkay. They have two sons, Adi and Itay Tarkay. On June 3, 2012, Tarkay died. Tarkay was 77.
