Before the nineteenth century painting was not recognized as a popular practice among the Jewish people. The lack of painting was due to the Jewish religions opposition to creating and painting imagery. However, because the standard of living began to improve in many Jewish communities in Western and Central Europe, the culture began to develop more and eventually led to a rise in art and painting among Jews. Many Jews in European countries like Germany, Holland, England, and Poland wanted to have personal and family portraits. Genre paintings, landscapes, and Jewish folk subjects also became popular subjects among Jewish painters.
In Central and Eastern Europe there was a lot of anti-Semitism which made it very difficult for Jewish artists to gain popularity and recognition among non Jews. To overcome this problem, some artists abandon Judaism all together while others stuck by their religion and were still able to maintain national success. Such artists include Moritz Daniel Oppenheim (1799-1882) in Germany; Maurycy Gottlieb (1856-1879) in Poland; Solomon Alexander Hart (1806-1881) in England.
During the 19th century many Jewish artists working in Europe were prospering and enjoying great success yet very few of these artists were working in Israel. However, the Zionist movement was able to captivate many Jewish artists. The idea of Jews returning to their holy land and rebuilding their community together attracted Jews from all over. Many documents were written on how this should be done. Many believed that in order for Jews to come together and rebuild their community in the holy land than they must develop a “national and folkloristic Jewish art”. This led to the establishment of the Bezalel School of Art in Jerusalem in 1906 by Professor Boris Schatz.
The year 1906 marked the official beginning of Israeli Art. 1906 was the year of the opening of The Bezalel Academy of Art in Jerusalem. It was founded by Professor Boris Shatz. Shatz was a sculptor whose vision and strong will drove him to undertake the most ambitious cultural project of the early Zionist movement. The Bezalel Academy attracted many Jewish artists from Europe to come and study in Palestine. However, the teachers represented the European style of art and academics. Shatz and his fellow teachers ignored the modern art developments of the time period. The style of painting developed was influenced by the Oriental ethnic style, Cubism, and by their fascination of the new country and its unique Mediterranean light and its primitive features. Many of their paintings reflected their love for their country and its beauty.
The Bezalel Academy of Art remains an important landmark in the history of Israeli art. Boris Shatz tried to keep Israeli art away from the modern art developments. He is considered the father of Israeli art. In fact an exhibition was held throughout 2006 at the Israel museum in Jerusalem under the title, “Boris Shatz, The Father of Israeli Art”.
As Jews continued to migrate to the Holy Land the population rapidly expanded. The influx of Jews to the Holy Land brought with it many new artists. From 1920 to the 1940’s you can see strong influences from the French Impressionist style and Modern schools of style as well German Expressionism.
In 1948 the State of Israel was established and Israeli art began to mature and fit in with the international art scene. In Israeli art of the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s many influences of the international art scene emerged yet Israeli artists always were able to maintain their unique style that made it Israeli. Today there are literally thousands of artists working in Israel.
Below are the links to five Israeli artists who are arguably the most influential, important, and celebrated painters in Israel.
Each link contains information on the artists life and some of their most famous and important pieces of work
This page was created by Chris DiBona from Trinity College for the class Modern Israeli Culture taught by Professor Levana Polate.