Mordechai Levanon

Mordechai Levanon (1901 - 1968) was an Israeli painter, one of the foremost Israeli landscape painters. Winner of the Dizengoff prize in 1940 and 1961. He was enchanted by Erez Israel's light, the mystical city of Safed and the holy city of Jerusalem; all of which feature heavily in his paintings.[1][2]

Mordechai Levanon
Born
Morderchai Weiss

7th of February 1901
near Oradea, Austria-Hungary (now Romania)
Died20th of October 1968
Jerusalem
NationalityIsraeli
EducationIsaac Frenkel's Histadrut Art School
StyleExpressionism
MovementEcole de Paris
SpouseRachel Goldfinger
Children3
AwardsDizengoff Prize 1940, 1961

Early life

Levanon was born under the name of Mordechai Weiss in a village near the city of Oradea in Transylvania, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Romania).[3] He began studying painting while still in Romania with his older brother, who was also a painter. In 1921 he immigrated to Israel and joined the Histadrut. Studied for a few months at "Bezalel". Until 1925 he worked as an agricultural laborer in the "Labor Battalion" in the Galilee Hebrew settlements, and later as a construction worker. From 1925 to 1927, he studied in the painting studio of the painter Yitzhak Frenkel (Frenel), and lived in the Mahloll neighborhood in Tel Aviv. After that he his left side jobs and devoted himself to painting.

As the son of a rabbi in a town in Transylvania, he knew the Holy Land from the stories of the Bible, and when he arrived in Israel, his spiritual perception of the place merged with the physical landscapes. In 1929, he was part of the "Massad" group and participated in exhibitions of the artists of Israel.

Between Jerusalem and Safed

In 1938, he settled in Jerusalem. In 1963 he opened a studio in Safed, seeking its spirituality,[4] and since then divided his time between it and Jerusalem.

Levanon presented solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions in Israel and abroad. Levanon died in Jerusalem in 1968 after a long illness. He was married to Rachel née Goldfinger. He had two sons and a daughter.

Art

Mordechai Levanon was heavily influenced by his teacher, Isaac Frenkel. Through his mentor, Levanon was influenced by modern art trends in France and especially Paris. Thus his work is reminiscent of Frenkel, Soutine, Kikoine and other painters of the Ecole de Paris.[5][6] Furthermore, Levanon was also influenced by Van Gogh, and like him took a special liking to the painting of vivid landscapes.

Mordechai Levanon was known as a landscape painter who chose a special path among Israeli landscape painters. His paintings are based on existing landscapes that serve as a kind of starting point for the work. The artist re-creates them on the canvas in a fairly free processing manner with changing color and perspective, until they look like floating landscapes full of mysticism. The paintings are like ecstatic visions rather than an actual landscape. In his work, the spiritual history of the holy cities of Jerusalem and Safed is translated into colors and shapes. The influence of his style is evident in the Kabbalistic paintings of his friend, David Rakie.

A Selection of Solo Exhibitions

See Also

References
  1. "Mordechai Levanon (מרדכי לבנון) - Artist, Dan Gallery". www.dangallery.co.il. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  2. "Israel Museum Information Center for Israeli Art - Artist's Page". museum.imj.org.il. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  3. "Mordechai Levanon (מרדכי לבנון) - Artist, Dan Gallery". www.dangallery.co.il. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  4. SternGallery (2018-10-14). "Levanon Mordechai". SternGallery.Art. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  5. "Yitzhak Frenkel-Frenel - Artists - Beloosesky Gallery". www.beloosesky.com. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  6. "Mordechai Levanon - Biography". www.askart.com. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
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