Matanya Abramson ( he, מתניה אברמסון; 1920–2004) was an Israeli

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

whose sculptures have been exhibited worldwide as well as in Israel. Matanya was a versatile artist who worked in marble, stone, and wood, as well as with bronze, aluminum and copper castings. Matanya abramson-69

Biography

Abramson was born in Kinneret, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. He was the son of a pioneering farmer family that immigrated from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

in the early 1900s. Abramson started painting during his childhood. After completing studies at the Mikve Israel agricultural school, he studied painting with various Israeli artists. He spent 12 years in military service in the Haganah, JSP,

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

Palyam Palyam ( he, פלי"ם, an abbreviation of ''Plugat HaYam'' (), lit. ''Sea Company'') was the sea force of the Palmach. History Palyam was set up in April 1945 as the Palmach's tenth company (Pluga Yud) which originated from the Palmach's Naval ...

, Palmach and the

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

. After the 1947–1949 Palestine war, Abramson studied sculpture from Schwarzmann and Koso Elul and spent 6 months in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

in 1954. After returning from Paris, he went back to the farm in the Kinneret and worked in agriculture, pursuing art in his free time. In 1959, Abramson left the farming village and moved to the artists' quarter in Safed. In 1962 he went to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

for two years, pursuing his art. Six months were spent in the marble mines in

Carrara Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence. Its mot ...

, and a year and a half was spent in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. All his works from Italy were sent to an exhibition in New York in October 1963. In 1964 he came back to Israel, living in the Ein-Kerem neighborhood of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. In 1965 Abramson moved to

Old Jaffa Old Jaffa ( he, יפו העתיקה afa ha'atiká– Ancient Yafo; ar, يافا العتيقه afa al.ʿatīqa– Ancient Jaffa or afa al.qadīma– Old Jaffa ) is a neighborhood of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel and the oldest part of Jaffa. A ne ...

.. Abramson died in February 2004 and was buried in his home village, Kinneret, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

Exhibitions & monuments

1960 - One Man Show - ZOA House, Tel Aviv 1963 - One Man Show - Gallery Numero, Florence 1963 - One Man Show - Gallery Vercel, New-York 1965 - One Man Show - Gallery Vercel, New-York 1965 - Monument - Kibbutz Ein-Gedi (Israel) 1966 - One Man Show - Hamam, Old Jaffa (Israel) 1966 - Exhibition with the painter Alexander - Museum, Ramat Gan (Israel) 1967 - Exhibition with the painter Rosenboim - Museum, Bat-Yam (Israel) 1967 - Memorial Monument to the Fallen - Kinneret (Israel) 1968 - Third prize in the contest for building a monument in the square where a synagogue was burned down - Munich 1969 - Participant in an international symposium - Saint-Margareten (Austria) 1970 - One Man Show - Artists House, Jerusalem 1971 - One Man Show - Yarkon Gallery, Boston 1971 - Started work on monument in memory of "Oley Hagardom" - Acre (Israel) 1971 - Memorial Monument for the Fallen - Har-Habanim, Ramat-Gan (Israel) 1978 - One Man Show - Gallery Alte-Schmide, Vienna 1980 – large marble sculpture - Berlin Garden, Neot-Afeka, Tel Aviv 1980 - One Man Show - Jewish-American Congress House, New-York 1983 - One Man Show - Herzliya Museum, Herzliya (Israel) 1986 - One Man Show - Institute Francais, Vienna 1986 - One Man Show - Gallery Susan Fischer, Baden-Baden 1992 - Exhibition with the painter Kipnis - Zurich Kosmus, Vienna

References

Artist profile
Israel Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Abramson, Matanya 1920 births 2004 deaths Jewish Israeli artists 20th-century Israeli Jews 21st-century Israeli Jews Palmach members Modern sculptors Jewish sculptors Jews from Mandatory Palestine 20th-century Israeli sculptors 20th-century Israeli male artists