The Debel Gallery was a private art gallery established by Etienne and Ruth Debel in 1973 in the Ein Kerem neighborhood of Jerusalem. It operated until 1990, exhibiting both established and avant-garde artists. Among the notable figures it presented were Israeli artists Yair Garbuz, Raffi Lavie, and Yocheved Weinfeld, as well as international names like Alexander Calder and David Hockney. The gallery was distinctive for staging site‑specific performance art—such as Weinfeld’s ''Nidah'' in 1976—and for supporting fringe and figurative artists, including Zeev Raban and Samuel Bak. In 2007, the Debel Gallery Archive—comprising exhibition documentation, artist correspondence, and recorded interviews—was donated to and is now housed at the Israel Museum’s Information Center for Israeli Art.

History

The Debel Gallery was opened in 1973 in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, when the city was a pilgrimage center for curators, journalists and art enthusiasts. Etienne and Ruth Debel opened the Gallery in the basement of their home in

Ein Kerem Ein Karem (; )Sharon, 2004, p155/ref> also Ein Kerem or Ain Karem, is a historic mountain village southwest of Jerusalem, presently a neighborhood in the outskirts of the modern city, within the Jerusalem District in Israel. It is the site of th ...

. It represented well-known artists, and discovered new ones. In addition, the Gallery exhibited avant-garde artists, which was unusual for a private gallery; for example, in 1974 the Austrian artist Rudolf Schwarzkogler, and in 1976 the Gallery staged a performance of "Nidah" by Yocheved Weinfeld. Among the artists exhibited were the Israeli artists Yair Garbuz,

Raffi Lavie Raffi Lavie (; 23 February 1937 – 7 May 2007) was an educator and music/art critic. Lavie's work is a cross between graffiti and abstract expressionism. Biography Rafael (Raffi) Lavi was born in Tel Aviv, During the British Mandate. He began t ...

, Gabriel Cohen, Yocheved Weinfeld, Maya Cohen-Levy, Daniela Passal; internationally famous artists such as

Alexander Calder Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English Painting, painter, Drawing, draughtsman, Printmaking, printmaker, Scenic design, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considere ...

and many others. At the same time, the Debel Gallery promoted a group of artists who were considered to be on the "fringe" of the avant-garde artists. They were identified with

Bezalel In Exodus 31:1-6 and chapters 36 to 39, Bezalel, Bezaleel, or Betzalel (, ''Bəṣalʼēl''), was the chief artisan of the Tabernacle and was in charge of building the Ark of the Covenant, assisted by Oholiab. The section in chapter 31 descr ...

such as Zeev Raban, Meir Gur-Arieh, and

Shmuel Levi Shmuel Levi (; 14 March 1884 – July 1966) was an Israeli painter. Biography Shmuel Levi (Ophel) was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. The name Opal was added by him as a pen name, yet at some point Levi abandoned it. His artwork stressed the Orien ...

; figurative artists such as

Samuel Bak Samuel Bak (; born 12 August 1933) is a Jewish Lithuanian-American painter and writer who survived the Holocaust and immigrated to Israel in 1948. Since 1993, he has lived in the United States. Biography Samuel Bak was born in Wilno (Vilnius), Se ...

and Naftali Bezem. There was also a group of new immigrants from the

U.S.S.R. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

who were also promoted by the Debel Gallery such as Naftali Bezem, Alexander Okun,

Valentin Shorr Valentin is a male given name meaning "strong, healthy, power, rule". It comes from the Latin name ''Valentinus'', as in Saint Valentin. Commonly found in Argentina, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Russia, Scandinavia, Ukraine, Latin A ...

, Anatoli Basin, and many others. While curating different exhibitions, Ruth used to interview the exhibiting artists. She recorded their conversations and transcribed them. In a collaboration between Ruth Debel and Mamuta at the Daniela Passal Art and Media Center, selected interviews were bound together into a booklet named ‘Dialogue’. The Debel Gallery Archive was given to the

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

in Jerusalem in January 2007. The Debel Gallery Archive is housed within the

Information Center for Israeli Art The Information Center for Israeli Art (ICIA) is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the Israeli art in Israel. Over 12,000 artists files are housed in the Center in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. History As a r ...

at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. It includes background material, exhibition histories, photos of invitations from 1973 to 1990, recordings of interviews with artists, correspondence with artists.

References

* Ruth Debel, "What Does It Mean to Be an Israeli Artist?", Art News, (May 1978), p. 55

External links

The Information Center for Israeli Art at the Israel Museum
{{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Israel Art museums and galleries established in 1973 1973 establishments in Israel