Caftori spent most of this second period (1961-1969) in Paris.
The challenge facing him was his continued struggle with the power of light; not only by the
softening of the color but the general change in his palette. The choice fell on black and white, and
the tension and opposition between them. The black color won the battle and conquered the canvas.
The white retreated until it disappeared entirely. A game of dark colors was played through a spectrum of
grays all the way to black. Very often other dark colors participated in the gray-black combination.
An embroidery of
dark blues or dark reds were embedded in the general composition. The flat composition continued to exist as
a main component. A new constituent has now arrived: “the matter” which added a new dimension tohe
suggestive expression; a mystical and archaic dimension.
The addition of new media such as sand, cement,
iron bars, asphalt, and cloth of
different varieties –
from silk and wool to burlap and soft velour, fitting the relative shapes, characterize the early
sixties. This addition is a kind of collage built on a different texture, which stops tensions and strong
oppositions of soft and hard materials. Light disappears totally and the problem is resolved
through shadows created by the medium itself.
Caftori'’s departure from Paris did not change the essence of the composition of his paintings but the
selection of colors and materials: The black monochrome gave way to browns, reds and blues, greens and
purples. The components of the collage were replaced by a more unifying medium – cement and sand mainly.
.