Jochanan Ligtenberg

Johan Gerrit Ligtenberg born 1942 [ Zwolle Holland ] For the first three years of his life Johan , his brother and Sister hid from the Nazis on a farm in Holland and at times would not see day light. After the second World War ended in 1945 The Ligtenberg Family, Father, Mother and there 3 Children under Netherlands Australian Migration Agreement Settled in South Australia in 1956. Johan married Jean Robertson from South Australia they had 5 Children. By 1980 Johan Ligtenberg and his wife and Children moved from South Australia to North of Brisbane in Queensland where he specialized in fresco paintings and large murals. Johan won second prize for his painting in the State of Queensland in 1989.

For the most part of Ligtenberg's life was in following Christendom. But it was not until the late 1980's while living in Brisbane and attending his local church Cross bearers in the valley, Johan Ligtenberg along with his wife and 3 of his children started to move away from Christendom and started attending Conversion classes into Judaism in Brisbane. But it was not until his move from Brisbane to the Gold Coast in 1991 where his conversion took place. Shortly there after Ligtenberg with his wife and 3 of there children in March of 1992 left Australia and migrated to Israel where they are still living today.

Since then, Johan has stopped receiving commissions for fresco paintings and started to explore the technique of the 17th century {Dutch masters }as an attempt to return to his Dutch roots. Today, Ligtenberg is one of the world experts of this Dutch-Flemish Renaissance painters such as Brueghel, Adriaen and Isaac van Ostade, David Teniers, Aelbert Cuyp, Johannes Vermeer and Pieter De Hooch.

Currently, Johan Ligtenberg spends most of his time between his studios in Israel and in Australia with his son and daughter and Grandchildren in Bundaberg North Queensland, experimenting with painting in the glaze technique,in which the paint is not applied “a la prima” but through many layers of thin, transparent oil painting.

Each of Ligtenberg’s paintings takes between a year and 18 months to complete. This is due to the sharp details he shows in his artwork and to the fact that in the final stages he uses a magnifying glass to complete the artwork.

Ligtenberg’s artwork can be found in prominent collections around the world, such as [ The Vatican collection] [The White House Presidential collection ] [The Israeli Prime Minister collection ] { Blue and White Art Gallery in Israel }