- Shimshon Holzman
Shimshon Holzman (1907-1986) (variant name Shimson Holzman) was an Israeli landscape and figurative painter.
Background
Holzman was born in 1907 in
Sambir , Galicia. He immigrated to Palestine fromVienna ,Austria in 1922, settled inTel Aviv , and began working as a house painter with his father. In 1926, Holzman began private studies underYitzhak Frenkel at the studio of painting arts of theHistadrut School where he also worked withMordechai Levanon ,Ziona Tajar ,Avigdor Stematsky ,Yehezkel Streichman ,Moshe Castel , andArie Aroch .In 1929, he made his first of several influential visits to
Paris ,France . There, he studied at theAcadémie de la Grande Chaumière and exhibited frequently. Israeli art scholar Gideon Ofrat writes of Holzman's time in France: he "brought from Paris impeccably French interiors and landscapes in expressionistic oils, but replaced them with light hearted aquarelles in the manner ofRaoul Dufy andHenri Matisse ." As a result of his studies under Frenkel - himself heavily influenced by theÉcole de Paris - and lengthy stays in France, Holzman's oeuvre has a strong French undercurrent. He was deeply influenced by Matisse, and his colour palette evinces a markedFauvist imprint. Gideon Ofrat further explains: "Holzman's landscapes (Galilean in the main) and characters (mostly Oriental) would convey optimism and mischievous gaiety; his sketch line, designed for a temperamentally rhythmic role, was overlaid with splotches of color, abstract and charmingly translucent."Holzman was a founding member of the Artists' Quarter in
Safed , represented Israel at the 1959Venice Biennale , and participated in a group exhibition of Israeli artists at the opening of theTel Aviv Museum of Art in 1932. In 1937, he was the first recipient of theDizengoff Prize , Israel's highest honour for contributions to the Arts. Holzman won the Haifa Municipality Prize in 1948 and was awarded the Dizengoff Prize a second time in 1959. He died in Tel Aviv in 1986.Holzman is considered a modern master of the
watercolour medium. On the tradition of watercolour painting in Israel, Avishay Ayal of theUniversity of Haifa explains: "originating in the early 15th century, this technique was a means for rapid sketching… In pre-State Palestine and in the early days of the State of Israel, aquarelle painting was a cheap and rapid method to disseminate art. Given the poverty that characterized the entire period, painting in watercolour and purchasing works on paper became a cheap, available option… Many of the Israeli abstract artists were great experts in watercolour painting." Ayal writes further: "several artists became known at the time mainly as aquarellists, and their works were highly popular during that period. The paintings ofJoseph Kossonogi ,Mordechai Avniel , and Shimshon Holzman are full of momentum, the color flows within extensive water stains, and they represent the spirit of an era rich in practice that looks to the future with optimism."Holzman's
orientalist -inspired works depicting Israeli land and seascapes andBedouin ,Arab , andJewish life are highlights of mid-twentieth century Israeli painting.Selected exhibitions
* 2004: "University of Haifa Art Gallery", Haifa: "Our Landscape: Notes on Landscape Painting in Israel" [http://hcc.haifa.ac.il/gallery/ourLandscape/english/index.htm (online catalogue)]
* 1991: "The Open Museum", Tefen: "A Summer Celebration: Paintings of the Israeli Landscape Artist Shimshon Holzman"
* 1964: "Galerie Jacques Chalom", Paris: "Figures & Landscapes of the Galilee"
* 1963: "Temple Sinai", Washington: "Seven Painters of Israel: Ardon, Castel, Holzman, Mokady, Rubin, Shemi & Steinhardt"
* 1954: "Obelisk Gallery", Washington
* 1951: "Galerie Léon Marseille", Paris: "Holzman: Paysages d'Israël"Selected collections
* "
Israel Museum ", Jerusalem
* "Tel Aviv Museum of Art "References
* Ayal, Avishay, and Yoram Bar-Gal. "Our Landscape: Notes on Landscape Painting in Israel" [exhibition catalogue] . Haifa: University of Haifa Art Gallery, 2004.
* Holzman, Shimshon (Yaakov Orland, ed.). "Eight Watercolour Drawings - Shemonah tsiyure akvarel" [portfolio of colour plates] . 1967.
* Ofrat, Gideon. "One Hundred Years of Art in Israel". Boulder: Westview Press, 1998.
* Zach, Natan. "Shimshon Holzman: A Summer Celebration" [exhibition catalogue] . Tefen: The Open Museum, 1991.External links
* [http://www.imj.org.il/artcenter/sname2_a.asp?artist=273553&list=H Shimshon Holzman at the Israeli Art Centre] ,
Israel Museum , Jerusalem
* [http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/Art%2DDesign/artandartistfiles/vf_details.cfm?id=57474 Shimshon Holzman] at theSmithsonian Libraries Art & Artists Files
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.