Matanya Abramson (; 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 The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...

. He was the son of a pioneering farmer family that immigrated from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

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 Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

, JSP,

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Palyam Palyam (, an abbreviation of ''Plugat HaYam'' (), ) was the marines 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 Platoon. The Company's first command ...

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

and the IDF. After the

1947–1949 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. During the war, the British withdrew from Palestine, Zionism, Zionist forces conquered territory and established ...

, 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, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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 Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

. In 1962 he went to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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

Carrara Carrara ( ; ; , ) is a town and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey Carrara marble, marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, ...

, and a year and a half was spent in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. 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 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 ...

. In 1965 Abramson moved to

Old Jaffa Old Jaffa (, ; ) is the oldest neighborhood in Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Jaffa. It is one of Israel's main tourist attractions, with art galleries, restaurants, theaters, museums, and nightclubs. Old Jaffa is located in the northwest of Jaffa, on a ...

. 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 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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abramson, Matanya 1920 births 2004 deaths 20th-century Israeli Jews 21st-century Israeli Jews Palmach members Israeli modern sculptors Jewish Israeli sculptors Jews from Mandatory Palestine 20th-century Israeli sculptors 20th-century Israeli male artists Burials at Kinneret Cemetery