Aharon Avni: His Studio and Studia
Aharon Avni
2021
By Ron Bartos
Aharon Avni (1906–1951) is one of the most important forgotten artists in Israel. Avni was a prolific painter, an influential educator, the founder of two leading art schools, whose artistic activity had a significant cultural impact on the artistic field of pre-independence Israel.
vni’s life was short – he was only 45 at the time of his death in 1951 – and his major artistic activity took place in the 1930s and 1940s. Beside his artistic work, Avni nurtured the pedagogical aspect of art education, which he saw as a mission of utmost social value and cultural importance. In 1936, he founded The Studia.The Studia soon became a major artistic hub in Tel Aviv, and many of the most important Israeli artists began their careers as its students. After his death, the Studia was renamed the Avni Institute, which bears his name to this day.
Avni’s artistic outlook was consistent throughout his life. In one period he was seen as original and advanced, and in another as conservative and even old-fashioned. This change affected him not only during his lifetime, but posthumously, as well – in the form of disregard by museums, in his absence in historiographical writings, and in oblivion from public memory. Exactly seventy years after his death, this book offer us an opportunity to become acquainted with Avni’s paintings.
- Copies: 500
- Pages: 600
- Type of binding: Hardcover
- Dimensions (cm): 26x19
- Reproductions: Lena Gomon. Ran Erda, Tal Badrak, Avraham Hay, Margarita Perlin, Ofrit Rosenberg, Shuki Kook Studio, Tiroche
- Printing: A.R. Printing
- Binding: A.R. Printing
- Type of printing: Offset
- Publication: Hezliya Museum of Contemporary Art
- Place of publication: Israel
- ISBN: 9789659060986
Aharon Avni was an Israeli painter, founder of the "Avni Institute" and one of the founders of the Art Teachers College (HaMidrasha LeOmanut). Avni was born in 1906 in Yekaterinoslav (now Ukraine). His father was a Zionist engineer and mine owner. In his youth, he studied at a local Hebrew Gymnasium and was a member of the "Halutz" movement.
Between 1923 and 1925, he studied art in Moscow, and in 1925 he immigrated to the Land of Israel and enrolled in studies at "Bezalel". At the same time, he was a member of the "Haganah" and one of the founders of "HaNoar HaOved" and the "Socialist Youth". In 1928, he moved to Tel Aviv, where he established a painting studio with several other artists. At the end of the 1920s, he was a member of the "Masad" group. This group, which included artists such as Avigdor Stematsky, Arie Aroch, and Israel Paldi, saw itself as representing the younger generation of artists in the Land of Israel. In 1936, he founded the "Studio" – the painting and sculpture studio of the Histadrut in Tel Aviv, together with Yehezkel Streichman and Moshe Sternschuss.
Between 1930 and 1932, he lived in Paris, France, in his paintings he drew inspiration from tendencies in French art. Initially, he was influenced by Corot and Gustave Courbet, and later his work showed influences of Jewish painters from the School of Paris.
Avni’s works were exhibited in museums and galleries across Israel. He won the Dizengoff Prize twice, in 1937 and 1948.
