Aharon Avni: His Studio and Studia

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.