Shimshon Holzman (variant name: Shimson Holzman; he, שמשון הולצמן; 1907–1986) was an Israeli landscape and figurative painter. He is known worldwide for his water color paintings.

Background

Holzman was born in 1907, in

Sambir Sambir ( uk, Самбір, pl, Sambor, yi, סאמבאָר, Sambor) is a city in Sambir Raion, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Sambir Raion (district) and is located close to the border with Poland. Sambir hosts t ...

, Galicia. He immigrated to

Mandate Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...

from

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 1922, settled in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

, and began working as a house painter with his father. In 1926, Holzman began private studies under

Yitzhak Frenkel Yitzhak Frenkel ( he, יצחק פרנקל; 1899–1981), also known as Alexandre Frenel, was an Israeli painter and sculptor, seen as the father of modern art in Israel. One of the most important Jewish artists of the l’École de Paris and it ...

at the studio of painting arts of the Histadrut School where he also worked with

Mordechai Levanon Mordechai Levanon (1901 - 1968) was an Israeli painter. He was one of the foremost Israeli landscape painters. He was the winner of the Dizengoff prize in 1940 and 1961. He was enchanted by Erez Israel's light, and the cities of Safed and Jerusal ...

, Ziona Tajar,

Avigdor Stematsky Avigdor Stematsky (1908–1989) was a Russian Empire-born Israeli painter. He is considered one of the pioneers of Israeli abstract art. Biography Stematsky was born in 1908 in Odessa. He joined the Massad group in Tel Aviv. In 1929, he went to P ...

Yehezkel Streichman Yehezkel Streichman ( he, יחזקאל שטרייכמן, 1906 – January 12, 1993) 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. Bi ...

Moshe Castel Moshe Castel ( he, משה קסטל; 1909 – December 12, 1991) was an Israeli painter. Biography Moshe Elazar Castel born in Jerusalem, Ottoman Palestine, in 1909, to Rabbi Yehuda Castel and his wife Rachel. The family was descended from Sp ...

, and

Arie Aroch Arie Aroch (in Hebrew אריה ארוך; born 1908, in Russia – October 15, 1974, in Israel) was an Israeli painter and diplomat born in Kharkiv, which was part of the Russian Empire. Aroch's work was a mixture of Pop Art and abstract art, alo ...

. In 1929, he made his first of several influential visits to

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. There, he studied at the

Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the Acadé ...

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 (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French Fauvism, Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramic art, ceramics and textile as well as decorative schemes for public bu ...

and

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

." As a result of his studies under

Frenkel Frenkel is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aaron G. Frenkel (born 1957), Israeli entrepreneur and philanthropist * Alexander Frenkel (born 1985), German boxer of Ukrainian origin * (1895–1984), Polish painter * Daan Frenk ...

- himself heavily influenced by the

École de Paris The School of Paris (french: École de Paris) refers to the French and émigré artists who worked in Paris in the first half of the 20th century. The School of Paris was not a single art movement or institution, but refers to the importance ...

- and lengthy stays in France, Holzman's oeuvre has a strong French undercurrent. He was deeply influenced by

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

, and his colour palette evinces a marked

Fauvist Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French language, French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the Representation (arts), repr ...

imprint. Gideon Ofrat further explains: "Holzman's landscapes (

Galilean Generically, a Galilean (; he, גלילי; grc, Γαλιλαίων; la, Galilaeos) is an inhabitant of Galilee, a region of Israel surrounding the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret). The New Testament notes that the Apostle Peter's accent gave him a ...

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." Furthermore it has been noted that Holzman appears to have also been influenced by the art of the Far East, an influence present in several of his works. Holzman was a founding member of the Artists' Quarter in

Safed Safed (known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), i ...

, represented Israel at the 1959

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, and participated in a group exhibition of Israeli artists at the opening of the

Tel Aviv Museum of Art Tel Aviv Museum of Art ( he, מוזיאון תל אביב לאמנות ''Muzeon Tel Aviv Leomanut'') is an art museum in Tel Aviv, Israel. The museum is dedicated to the preservation and display of modern and contemporary art from Israel and aroun ...

in 1932. Holzman is considered a modern master of the

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

medium. On the tradition of watercolour painting in Israel, Avishay Ayal of the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

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 The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

, and

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

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 Prize The Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture is awarded annually by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb ...

, 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''

Selected collections

* ''

Israel Museum The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...

'', Jerusalem * ''

References

External links

Shimshon Holzman at the Israeli Art Centre

, Jerusalem
Shimshon Holzman
at the Smithsonian Libraries Art & Artists Files {{DEFAULTSORT:Holzman, Shimshon 1907 births 1986 deaths Jewish painters 20th-century Polish painters 20th-century Ukrainian painters 20th-century Ukrainian male artists 20th-century Polish male artists Austrian emigrants to Israel Alumni of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière 20th-century Israeli painters People from Sambir Ukrainian male painters Pupils of Yitzhak Frenkel