Mordecai Ardon

Mordecai Ardon (1896-1992) was born in 1896 in the small Polish village of Tuchow. After World War First he left for Paris and like many Russian and Polish artists only got as far as Berlin where he enrolled to a preparatory Bauhaus class. He found a small room in the house of the older Paul Klee, who became a friend to young Ardon. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, he immigrated to Israel. In leaving Europe he not only lost the stimulating human contacts but also the inspiring museums and exhibitions. In addition, the landscape was different, the sky had a blinding light and the sunsets were overwhelmingly colorful. His reaction was to retreat to his house. The pictures he painted during the first years in Jerusalem were brooding portraits and sunless landscapes. The works revealed a continuous effort to maintain the link with the masters of the past and above all with Rembrandt. Only after a while did he find his own unique style that combined the mysticism of the Kabala along with modern age and the inventions of contemporary art. Ardon was able to render the strong Israeli light not only impressionistically but also internally in conveying the awe-inspiring primeval nature of the land. The landscapes of Israel became mystical elements of signs and inner light. Ardon had exhibitions in New York, Amsterdam, the Venice Biennale and more. A recent retrospective of his works had just been shown at the Israel Museum of Art in Jerusalem.