Born in Ukraine in 1897, Ryback lived in Moscow in 1919 and 1920 and worked closely with the artists of the Russian avant-garde, in particular with El Lissitsky, Pevsner and Gabo. In 1921, he moved to Berlin where he associated with Der Strum. In 1925 he was invited back to Soviet Russia to design sets and costumes for the Moscow theatre. He finally settled in Paris in 1926 and there his artistic themes turned nostalgically to Russian Jewish shtetl life. In 1935, on the eve of the first large retrospective at Galerie Wildenstein, he suddenly died. In a review published in La Presse, Waldemar George commented: "Ryback is not a realist given to the interpretation of dramatic subjects. He is a visionary who transformed rags and tatters into sumptuous brocades. By virtue of his magical colours, human waifs are changed into kings of legend, the desolated sites of Eastern Europe glow with intense brilliance, and his muddy farmyard evoke a rich tapestry, woven with silken threads."