ISRAEL

THE MAGAZINE OF ART AND CULTURE

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CAROL NOVIS

Special to The Jewish News

A

rt has been highly
developed in Israel
since biblical times.
Indeed, the Bible refers to the
Hebrew craftsman Bezalel at
the time of the Exodus who
was skilled "in all manner of
worksmanship, to devise
curious works, to work in gold
and in silver and in brass and
in the cutting of stones for
setting and in carving of
wood, to make any manner of
skillful work."
Yet in spite of this il-
lustrious heritage, no serious
art magazine in English has
existed as a showcase for
Israeli creative talent in the
arts. Partly as a result, Israeli
painters such as Reuven
Rubin, Yossef Zaristky and
Yosl Bergner, whose work is
embued with the spirit of the
fledgling state, are not as well
known as they might be out-
side Israel, while younger
contemporary Israeli artists
have been denied the plat-
form they deserve.
A new magazine, Art in
Israel, has hit the newsstands
in Israel and abroad. Its aim,
according to editor Israel
Perry, is to "reflect existing
realities, to touch on the past
and to examine the future; to
review past and existing
trends, to bring young artists
into the limelight and to
recall our founding fathers,
and of course not to neglect
the economic facets which are
so important in the art
business."
A glance through the pages
of recent issues shows that
the Israeli art world is alive
and thriving. Not only pain-
ting and sculpture, but also
Judaica, architecture,
photography and even ar-
cheological discoveries reveal
the flourishing state of the
arts today and in the past.
A recent issue features
thoughtful articles on two
Israeli women artists: Tziona
Tagger, a native-born Israeli
of Sephardic origin who was
one of the pioneering genera-
tion of Israeli artists, and
Batya Lishansky, a Tel Aviv
sculptor whose work has been
likened to that of Rodin.
Their stories reveal that

104

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1990

women have played a signifi-
cant role in the creation of a
national art.
Other profiled Israeli ar-
tists have included well-
known and respected artistic
icons such as Reuven Rubin
and Marcel Janco, as well as
young artists now attempting
to make a name for them-
selves, such as Calman
Shemi, Ya'akov Mishori and
Michal Sedaka.
The story of perhaps the
loveliest woman in Israeli art,
the so-called mosaic "Mona
Lisa of the Galilee," offers a
fascinating glimpse of the
rediscovered past. As told by

writer Nahum Donitza, the
lovely, mysterious beauty of a
woman depicted in mosaic
tile lay covered by a layer of
soil in a Roman villa at
Sephoris in the Galilee until
rediscovered in 1987. "The
greatness of this woman is
that she speaks to you from
beyond time," remarked one
Hebrew University scholar.
lbday, after what might be
termed a face lift, she can be
seen at the Israel Museum.
Judaica is another topic of
strong interest for the editors
of Art in Israel. Recent issues
have included articles on
papercuts by Jews of the Ot-

toman empire, on the
280-item Steiglitz collection
which was recently moved
from the modest 1bl Aviv
apartment of Penina and
Joseph Steiglitz to the Israel
Museum, on modern forms of
Jewish ritual articles and on
religious articles from
Spanish Morocco.
In a lighter vein, readers
may be surprised to read
about the history of comic
books in Israel. Considering
the limited market and the
fact that the comic book genre
is so typically American, the
existence of a local comic in-
dustry may be surprising. But

according to Uri Fink, who
himself created the comic
character Sabraman at the
age of 13, comics have suc-
ceeded in obtaining a certain
degree of legitimacy as art,
and certainly increased
popularity.
In the early days of the
state, comics reflected the in-
terests of the time and were
strictly for children. The com-
ic adventures of Gidi Gezer,
for example, described how a
high schooler warded off Arab
attackers, while sharp-eyed
Ephraim, another young
hero, protected poor citizens of
Israel against thieving
predators. More recent comic
heros have included Michael
Netzer's Uri On, a patriotic
Israeli super agent with a
Magen David emblazoned on
his chest in the style of Super-
man, and the avant garde
work of, artists Dudu Geva
and Michel Kishka.
Since auctions are an in-
separable part of the world
art scene today, Art in Israel
lists current prices of Judaica
at auction houses such as
Sotheby's and at Israeli
galleries. From the going
prices, it is fair to conclude
that the relatively difficult
period Israel is going through
economically has had little ef-
fect on major purchasers. A
recent Sotheby's auction in
Tel Aviv broke all local
records, with works by
Chagall, Kisling, Nikel and
Ardon fetching high prices.
One item, sold more for its
emotional than its artistic im-
pact, was Theodor Herzl's
gold watch. It fetched
$24,200, more than three
times what had been ex-
pected. Watches, oddly
enough, appear to be in de-
mand among collectors. At a
previous Sotheby's auction, a
gold watch of Lord Balfour,
valued at $3,000, sold for
$13,500.
Art in Israel aspires to pre-
sent the gamut of art of the
local scene to the outside
world. As editor Israel Perry
puts it, "We hope that our tas-
ty tidbits of Israeli art will
whet the appetite to see and
know more, and to enjoy the
experience of burgeoning art
in Israel." El