Zvi Raphaeli (; born in Egypt at 1924, died in 2005) was an Israeli impressionist painter. A rabbi by profession, he merged religion and art deftly in his paintings. He was educated in France from the age of three, and studied art at the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...

in Paris, and also at the

Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design () is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldest institution of higher education and is considered the ...

in Jerusalem. He initially studied engineering but after losing many close relatives including his father and brother in World War II, Raphaeli decided to study to be an artist. He was a member of the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

during World War II, and lived in Israel where he moved to, in 1945 at the age of 21. Later on in his life, he also lived in the United States.

Art

He is known for his works of art in varied media, including oil and watercolor, depicting street scenes in Israel, scenes from Jewish life and festivities, and occasionally floral still subjects. Style: His primary medium of painting was oil on canvas, with a prominent

impasto Impasto is a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface thickly, usually thick enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas. When dry, impasto provides tex ...

technique, that brings depth to the subject. In the 70's, Raphaeli made his stamp as an art critic as well, providing his critique to various other Israeli artists like Moshe Givati at the nationwide 'Summer ‘70 Exhibition' held at the Goldman Gallery,

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

. Austrian born Israeli Art critic Theodore F. Meisels once wrote in ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...

'': "Still, one should watch out; Should Raphaely, who behind his beard is far younger than he looks, ever attempt to harmonize his two worlds, then this genuine painting 'Chassid' could develop into an Israeli Chagall....." Raphaeli has also authored and illustrated the

Haggadah The Haggadah (, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a foundational Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table fulfills the mitzvah incumbent on every Jew to reco ...

(a Jewish text for "telling" from father to son, the story of deliverance of Jews from Egypt), in his version THE PESSACH HAGGADAH ardcover-1975, Miller Publication, 1975

References

Askart.com Artist BiographiesSummer '70 Art Exhibition, Haifa, IsraelTHE PESSACH HAGGADAH (Hardcover-1975, Miller Publication, 1975), Virtualjudaica.comVerso label, Mixed media on paper, "Mea Shearim"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raphaeli, Zvi 1924 births 2005 deaths Israeli male painters Jewish Israeli painters Egyptian expatriates in France Egyptian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Israeli expatriates in the United States