Moshe Castel
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Moshe Castel (; 1909 – December 12, 1991) was an Israeli painter.


Biography

Moshe Elazar Castel born 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 ...
,
Ottoman Palestine The region of Palestine (region), Palestine is part of the wider region of the Levant, which represents the land bridge between Africa and Eurasia.Steiner & Killebrew, p9: "The general limits ..., as defined here, begin at the Plain of ' ...
, in 1909, to Rabbi Yehuda Castel and his wife Rachel. The family was descended from the Jewish Castel clan, who are
Sephardic Jews Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...
from Castile who according to oral tradition, immigrated to the city of
Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...
after the
expulsion of the Jews from Spain The Expulsion of Jews from Spain was the expulsion of practicing Jews following the Alhambra Decree in 1492, which was enacted to eliminate their influence on Spain's large ''converso'' population and to ensure its members did not revert to Judais ...
in 1492, and later relocated to
Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...
in the early modern period. His father was born in
Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...
. He opened religious schools for Sephardi boys in the
Nahalat Shiv'a Nahalat Shiv'a () is a former courtyard neighborhood in Jerusalem. It was the third Jewish neighborhood built outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem in the 1860s. Today it is a crowded pedestrian promenade lined with sidewalk cafes. I ...
and Bukharim quarters of Jerusalem. Moshe grew up in the Bukharim neighborhood, where he attended his father's school. At the age of 13, he was accepted to the Bezalel Art School, directed by
Boris Schatz Boris Schatz (; Russian language, Russian: Борис Шац; 23 December 1866 – 23 March 1932) was a Lithuanian Jews, Lithuanian Jewish artist and sculptor who settled in Palestine. Schatz was the founder of the Bezalel school and would be late ...
, where he studied from 1921 to 1925. During the weekends of 1925-1927 he would study under
Yitzhak Frenkel Yitzhak Frenkel (; 1899–1981), also known as Isaac Frenkel or Alexandre Frenel, was an Israeli painter, sculptor and teacher. He was one of the leading Jewish artists of the School of Paris, l’École de Paris and its chief practitioner in Is ...
(a painter of the
Ecole de Paris The School of 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 of Paris as a centre o ...
) at his
studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...
in Tel Aviv, where he encountered the influence of modern French art. His teacher,
Shmuel Ben David Shmuel Ben David (; 1884–1927), born in Sofia, Bulgaria, was an illustrator, painter, typographer and designer affiliated with the Bezalel school, an art movement that developed in Jerusalem in the early twentieth century. Biography Shabat ...
, encouraged him to study art 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 ...
. Castel traveled to Paris in 1927, where he attended
Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...
and Ecole du Louvre. He sat in the Louvre copying the works of
Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...
,
Velasquez Velázquez, also Velazquez, Velásquez or Velasquez (, ), is a surname from Spain. It is a patronymic name, meaning "son of Velasco". References to "Velazquez" without a first name are often to the Spanish painter, Diego Velázquez. Notable peo ...
, Delacroix and
Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( ; ; ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and the ...
, intrigued by their paint-layering techniques.About the artist
/ref> It was here that he began to realize that "art is not symbolic, but rather material, the material is the main thing, the way the paint is placed, the way the layers are placed on the picture, this is the most essential thing." In May 1927, the World Union of Hebrew Youth in Paris sponsored his first exhibit.
Ze'ev Jabotinsky Ze'ev Jabotinsky (born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky; 17 October 1880  – 3 August 1940) was a Russian-born author, poet, orator, soldier, and founder of the Revisionist Zionist movement and the Jewish Self-Defense Organization in O ...
, who was in Paris at the time, wrote an introduction for the catalogue. In 1940, Castel returned to Palestine and settled 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 ...
(today his home houses the
Beit Castel The Beit Castel gallery (House Of Castel), בית קסטל, is a gallery in the Artists' Colony of Safed (Also known as Tzfat or Zefat). The gallery hosts art of a diverse range of artists from the Artists Quarter of Safed, Artists' Quarter of Saf ...
art gallery). In 1949, Castel married Bilhah (née Bauman), an actress.


Artistic career

In 1947, Castel helped to found the "New Horizons" (''
Ofakim Hadashim Ofakim Hadashim (, lit. "New Horizons") is an art movement started in Tel Aviv in 1942. New Horizons The Ofakim Hadashim art movement began with a group of artists who mounted an exhibition in Tel Aviv's Habima national theater in December 194 ...
'') group together with
Yosef Zaritsky Joseph (Yossef) Zaritsky (; September 1, 1891 – November 30, 1985) was one of the early promoters of modern art in the Land of Israel both during the period of the Yishuv (the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel before the establishme ...
,
Yehezkel Streichman Yehezkel Streichman (; 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. Biography Yehezkel Streichman was b ...
,
Marcel Janco Marcel Janco (, ; common rendition of the Romanian language, Romanian name Marcel Hermann Iancu ; 24 May 1895 – 21 April 1984) was a Romanian and Israeli visual artist, architect and art theorist. He was the co-inventor of Dadaism and a leading ...
and others. In 1959, he purchased a studio in
Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...
where he worked for several months a year. In 1955, a solo exhibition of his works was mounted at the
Tel Aviv Museum of Art The Tel Aviv Museum of Art ( ''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 both from Israel and around the world. History The Tel Aviv ...
. His murals hang in the
Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...
,
Binyanei HaUma The International Convention Center (, ''Merkaz HaKongresim HaBeinLeumi''), commonly known as Binyanei HaUma (, lit. ''Buildings of the nation''), is a concert hall and convention center in Giv'at Ram in Jerusalem. History Binyanei Ha'Uma was fi ...
Convention Center,
Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...
in New York, and the official residence of the
President of Israel The president of the State of Israel (, or ) is the head of state of Israel. The president is mostly, though not entirely, ceremonial; actual executive power is vested in the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet led by the Prime Minister of Israel, pr ...
in Jerusalem.


Style

In the 1930s and 1940s, many of Castel's paintings depicted the lives of Sephardic Jews in the Holy Land, revealing the influence of Persian miniatures.Moshe Castel, Aviram fine art
/ref> From the 1950s on, Castel created relief paintings inspired by the "ancient predecessors of Hebrew civilization." In 1948, he visited the ruins of an ancient synagogue in Korazin, an ancient Jewish town in the
Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...
. Inspired by the basalt blocks he saw there, engraved with images and ornaments, he began to use ground basalt, which he molded into shapes, as his basic material.Moshe Castel, 82, Dies; Innovator in Israeli Art
/ref> The technique utilized ground basalt rock mixed with sand and glue, infused with the rich colors that became his trademark. The works were embellished with archaic forms derived from ancient script, symbolism and mythological signs from Hebrew and
Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...
ian culture. As a member of the New Horizons group, he combined elements of abstract European art with Eastern motifs and " Canaanite art."


Awards and commemoration


Legacy

His art can today be found in several public collections including the
Tate gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, the
Museum of Modern art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
, in the
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
, in the
San Francisco Museum of art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art, and has b ...
as well as in the Israeli parliament, supreme court and Israeli presidential residence. His museum in summer of 2024 showcased an exhibition of 74 artists including
Naftali Bezem Naftali Wahba Bezem (; November 27, 1924 – October 2, 2018) was an Israeli painter, muralist and sculptor. Biography Naftali Bezem was born in Essen, Germany, in 1924. His early adolescence was spent under Nazi oppression, in constant fear ...
, Yosef Ostrovsky and Yitzhak Alexander Frenkel (Frenel).


Awards

*In 1941 and again in 1946, Castel was awarded the
Dizengoff Prize The Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture is awarded annually by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality since 1937. The prize is named after Meir Dizengoff, the first mayor of Tel Aviv. According to the Tel Aviv municipality, the purpose of the pri ...
for painting by the
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
Municipality. *He won the "Premier do Estado" prize at the
São Paulo Art Biennial The São Paulo Art Biennial ( Portuguese: ''Bienal de São Paulo'') was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennale (in existence since 1895), which serves as ...
in Brazil. *The Moshe Castel Museum of Art, in a building designed by Israeli architect David Resnik overlooking the desert landscape, opened in
Ma'aleh Adumim Ma'ale Adumim (; ) is an urban Israeli settlement organized as a city council (Israel), city council in the West Bank, seven kilometers () east of Jerusalem. Ma'ale Adumim achieved city council (Israel), city status in 1991. In 2015, its popula ...
in 2010.A Castel on the hill
Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Je ...


See also

*
Visual arts in Israel Visual arts in Israel or Israeli art refers to visual art or Plastic arts, plastic art created by Israeli artists or Jewish painters in the Yishuv. Visual art in Israel encompasses a wide spectrum of techniques, styles and themes reflecting a ...
* Yitzhak Frenkel Frenel *
Shimshon Holzman Shimshon Holzman (variant name: Shimson Holzman; ; 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, Galicia (Central Europe), Galic ...
*
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 ...


References


External links

* *
Castel Museum of Art website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castel, Moshe 1909 births 1991 deaths Artists from Jerusalem Sephardi Jews from Ottoman Palestine Sephardi Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli Sephardi Jews 20th-century Sephardi Jews Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design alumni 20th-century Israeli painters Pupils of Yitzhak Frenkel Jewish Israeli painters