Shimshon Holzman
Encyclopedia
Shimshon Holzman was an Israeli landscape and figurative painter.
, Galicia. He immigrated to Mandate Palestine from Vienna
, Austria
in 1922, settled in Tel Aviv
, and began working as a house painter with his father. In 1926, Holzman began private studies under Yitzhak Frenkel
at the studio of painting arts of the Histadrut
School where he also worked with Mordechai Levanon, Ziona Tajar, Avigdor Stematsky
, Yehezkel Streichman
, Moshe Castel
, and Arie Aroch
.
In 1929, he made his first of several influential visits to Paris
, France
. There, he studied at the Académie 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 lighthearted aquarelles in the manner of Raoul Dufy
and Henri Matisse
." As a result of his studies under Frenkel
- himself heavily influenced by the École 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 marked Fauvist 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 1959 Venice Biennale
, and participated in a group exhibition of Israeli artists at the opening of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art
in 1932.
Holzman is considered a modern master of the watercolour medium. On the tradition of watercolour painting in Israel, Avishay Ayal of the University 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 of Joseph 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 and Bedouin
, Arab
, and Jewish life are highlights of mid-twentieth century Israeli painting.
He died in Tel Aviv in 1986.
, 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.
Background
Holzman was born in 1907 in SambirSambir
Sambir is a city in the Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Sambir Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast. It is located at around , close to the border with Poland.-History:...
, Galicia. He immigrated to Mandate Palestine from Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
in 1922, settled in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, and began working as a house painter with his father. In 1926, Holzman began private studies under Yitzhak Frenkel
Yitzhak Frenkel
Yitzhak Frenkel was an important Israeli painter.-Biography:...
at the studio of painting arts of the Histadrut
Histadrut
HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael , known as the Histadrut, is Israel's organization of trade unions. Established in December 1920 during the British Mandate for Palestine, it became one of the most powerful institutions of the State of Israel.-History:The Histadrut was founded in...
School where he also worked with Mordechai Levanon, Ziona Tajar, Avigdor Stematsky
Avigdor Stematsky
Avigdor Stematsky was a Russian-born Israeli painter. He is considered one of the pioneers of Israeli abstract art.-Biography:Stematsky was born in 1908 in Odessa. In 1922, he immigrated to Palestine and attended the Bezalel School of Art in Jerusalem from 1926 to 1928. He joined the Massad group...
, Yehezkel Streichman
Yehezkel Streichman
Yehezkel Streichman was an Israeli painter. He is considered a pioneer of Israeli modernist painting. Among the awards that he won were the Dizengoff Prize and the Israel Prize.-Early life:Streichman was born in Kovno, Lithuania...
, Moshe Castel
Moshe Castel
-Biography:Moshe Elazar Castel born in Jerusalem, Ottoman Palestine, in 1909, to Rabbi Yehuda Castel and his wife Rachel. The family was descended from Spanish Jews from Castile who immigrated to the Holy Land after the explusion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. His father was born in Hebron. He...
, and Arie Aroch
Arie Aroch
Arie Aroch was an Israeli painter, recipient of The Israel Prize for Painting.- Biography :Arie Aroch, , painter, born 1908, Kharkov, Russia...
.
In 1929, he made his first of several influential visits to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. There, he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière
Académie de la Grande Chaumière
The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, France. The school was founded in 1902 by the Swiss Martha Stettler , who refused to teach the strict academic rules of painting of the École des Beaux-Arts. It opened the way to the "Art Indépendant"...
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 lighthearted aquarelles in the manner of Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy[p] was a French Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramics and textiles, as well as decorative schemes for public buildings. He is noted for scenes of open-air social events...
and Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
." As a result of his studies under Frenkel
Yitzhak Frenkel
Yitzhak Frenkel was an important Israeli painter.-Biography:...
- himself heavily influenced by the École de Paris - and lengthy stays in France, Holzman's oeuvre has a strong French undercurrent. He was deeply influenced by Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
, and his colour palette evinces a marked Fauvist imprint. Gideon Ofrat further explains: "Holzman's landscapes (Galilean
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
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
Safed
Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
, represented Israel at the 1959 Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
, and participated in a group exhibition of Israeli artists at the opening of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Tel Aviv Museum of Art
The Tel Aviv Museum of Art is an art museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was established in 1932 in a building that was the home of Tel Aviv's first mayor, Meir Dizengoff. The Helena Rubinstein Pavilion for Contemporary Art opened in 1959. The museum moved to its current location on King Saul Avenue in...
in 1932.
Holzman is considered a modern master of the watercolour medium. On the tradition of watercolour painting in Israel, Avishay Ayal of the University of Haifa
University of Haifa
The University of Haifa is a university in Haifa, Israel.The University of Haifa was founded in 1963 by Haifa mayor Abba Hushi, to operate under the academic auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
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 of Joseph Kossonogi
Joseph Kossonogi
Joseph Kossonogi was an Israeli painter.-Biography:Kossonogi was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1908. After studies at the Berlin Academy of Art and advanced studies in France, Holland, Italy and Spain, he immigrated to Mandate Palestine and settled in Tel Aviv in 1926...
, Mordechai Avniel
Mordechai Avniel
Mordechai Avniel , variant name Mordecai Avniel, was an Israeli painter and sculptor.- Biography :Avniel was born in 1900 in Minsk, present-day Belarus. He studied fine arts in Yekaterinburg, Russia and at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem...
, 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
Orientalism
Orientalism is a term used for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists, as well as having other meanings...
-inspired works depicting Israeli land and seascapes and Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
, Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
, and Jewish life are highlights of mid-twentieth century Israeli painting.
He died in Tel Aviv in 1986.
Awards
In 1937, Holzman was a co-recipient of the first Dizengoff PrizeDizengoff Prize
The Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture is awarded annually by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality since 1937.The following is a table of Dizengoff Prize laureates in their respective art form:...
, 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.
Selected exhibitions
- 2004: University of Haifa Art Gallery, Haifa: Our Landscape: Notes on Landscape Painting in Israel (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
Further reading
- 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
- Shimshon Holzman at the Israeli Art Centre, Israel MuseumIsrael MuseumThe Israel Museum, Jerusalem was founded in 1965 as Israel's national museum. It is situated on a hill in the Givat Ram neighborhood of Jerusalem, near the Bible Lands Museum, the Knesset, the Israeli Supreme Court, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem....
, Jerusalem - Shimshon Holzman at the Smithsonian Libraries Art & Artists Files