Bidspirit auction | Avraham Ofek , 1935-1990

Avraham Ofek , 1935-1990 - Woman and horse,. Artist's name: Avraham Ofek , 1935-1990 Item name: Woman and horse, Technique: Etching Measurements: 26X37 cm Signed: Signd and described: A.P. Estimate: $100 - 150 About The Artist: Avraham Ofek was born in Burgas, Bulgaria, the third son of Dina and Yaakov Rubnov. Ofek's work portrayed social, national, and Jewish themes, as well as landscapes of Israel and especially of Jerusalem. For his work, Ofek won the Jerusalem Prize for painting in 1969. Ofek arrived in Israel in 1949 and settled on Kibbutz Ein Hamifratz, where he studied painting under the tutelage of the painter Aryeh Rothman. His early work included images of animals, farm machinery, kibbutz scenes, scenes from the Wadi Ara region and from Jaffa, and images of laborers. In 1958 he went to Italy to continue his studies and to participate in the mural on a wall of the Accademia di Belle Arti (”Academy of Fine Arts”) in Florence. Under the spell of the art of mural painting, which Ofek considered the primary medium of his work, he painted several of his best-known works, such as the mural on the wall of Beit Haam in Kfar Uria (1970), the mural in the Central Post Office in Jerusalem (1972) and the mural ”Israel, a Shattered Dream”, at Haifa University (1986-1987). In 1962 Ofek and his wife Telma moved to Jerusalem. During the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s he was an active member of the ”Levitan group” with the artists Shmuel Ackerman and Mikhail Grobman. The group, which was founded in 1976, combined symbolism, metaphysics, Judaism and conceptual and environmental art. Within the framework of this group Ofek created performances and symbolic activities into which Jewish traditional symbolism was integrated. From the 1980s onward, Ofek returned to more traditional painting, which continued to feature Jewish themes, Israeli landscapes, and views of his city, Jerusalem. Education Painting under Arie Rothman 1958-1960 Academy of Fine Arts, Florence 1961 Study Tour to Seville and Madrid, Spain, and London 1969 Study Tour to Europe and U.S.A. Teaching 1962-1975 Bezalel Academy, Jerusalem 1975 Head of the Art Department, Television, Jerusalem 1978-1981 Art Department, Haifa University 1984-1990 Professor, Art Department, Haifa University Awards And Prizes 1959 - America-Israel Cultural Foundation 1969 - Jerusalem Prize for painting and Sculpture 1990 - Ish-Shalom Prize for Life's Work in Art Environmental Sculptures 1970 Mural, Beit Haam, Kfar Uria