Beloosesky Gallery is interested in purchasing paintings and drawings by Zvi Raphaeli.
Please call (917) 749-4557 or email us at info@beloosesky.com
Zvi Raphaeli was an artist born in Suez, Egypt, in 1924. The family left for Paris in 1928. During World War Two, he served in the underground Army of the French Resistance, the Free Forces of the Interior, or FFI.
While a partisan fighter in the Maquis, or scrub, or woods, Raphaeli decided that he would not study engineering as his family intended him to, but Judaism and painting. The Raphaeli family had a long history of artists and members who simply painted, both in Argentina and in France.
Zvi Raphaeli attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris under the direction of Jean Souverbie, and in 1945, he settled in Jerusalem, in the old city, to paint and to study Torah. In Jerusalem, he continued to study art under the master Jacob Steinhardt in Jerusalem. Zvi Raphaeli’s time is divided between two different worlds – the world of the Bible which he pursues through his teachings in a Yeshiva, and the world of art which he expresses through his paintings.
While teaching at a Yeshiva, Rabbi Raphaeli became one of Israel’s most prolific painters. His quick brush and keen eye established him as the Utrillo of Israeli street scenes. The narrow, picturesquely uneven old streets of Jerusalem were his most common subject. Zvi Raphaeli’s landscapes were painted with a tender and delicate beauty. His synagogue scenes captured his deep religious feelings. The streets of Mea Shearim are another of the artist’s favorite subjects. Later on in his life, he also lived in the United States.
Raphaeli painted with warmth and understanding and is one of Israel’s most popular artists. He has exhibited in Florence, Milano, New York and in Jerusalem. He has also taken part in collective exhibitions in Israel and the United States.
Zvi Raphaeli died in 2005.