Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 10

David Rakia
Jewish Mystical Kabbalah Oil Painting Jerusalem Cityscape Hebrew Letters Judaica

c.1960's

$2,000
£1,518.37
€1,736.69
CA$2,794.29
A$3,107.86
CHF 1,622.83
MX$37,819.36
NOK 20,725.99
SEK 19,437.32
DKK 12,961.56
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

"Tzadik" A Surrealist oil painting of old mystical Jerusalem with Hebrew calligraphy Sight 13.25" x 19.5" ; frame: 21" x 27.25" David Rakia (1928-2012) was born in Vienna, Austria to a religious family named Shternfeld. His father was a Sofer, a Jewish ritual torah scribe. They emigrated to British mandate Palestine in 1938. He fought and was injured in the War of Independence. After the war he began studying with the artist Mordecai Ardon later joining the Bezalel school in Jerusalem where he studied under Isidor Ascheim and Yakov Eisenscher. He continued his studies at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, France where he studied painting, lithography and mural art developing a Symbolist style influenced by Surrealism. His first exhibitions were held at that time at the Musee d'art Moderne in Paris, as well as in Switzerland. Upon his return to Israel in 1960, he began a series of drawings in which Hebrew letters played a central part. His work began to include metaphysical motifs from Judaism, such as the usage of calligraphic Hebrew letters, descriptions of Jerusalem, and the like. A Kabala influenced Expressionism. A year later an extensive individual exhibition of Rakia's work was held at the Tel Aviv Museum. Following the Six Day War, Jerusalem became a central theme in the artist's work. The city, as the essence of the national destiny was concretized both realistically and symbolically, beside the archways, walls and plants, the letters had, from time to time, figurative and abstract shapes. In the seventies a new spirit filled Rakia's work, beside the previous world of shapes appear horses, in a range of hues and positions, accompanied by musical instruments. Whatever the forms and subjects may be, the reflection of light shining in the background is in all his works. Sometimes the light is green, blue or red, sometimes it is concentrated in a circle, or it appears diffuse. Light is one of the strongest expressions in Rakia's world view as it is reflected in his art. It is an ongoing attempt to touch the mystical experience and the tie between our national existence and the cosmic order around us. The forms and colors are a means of reifying the cosmic cycles of time, light and sound. Man himself appears infrequently in these works, Rakia preferring to place in them his longings to understand and to touch the wonderful system which surrounds his existence. The life and work of David Rakia have been described in the book written by Dr. Marcel L. Mendelson, which was published by 'Massada' in 1978. A book about the artist written by Dr. Gideon Ofrat titled Signs was published in 2009. Rakia's works have been displayed in over 100 individual exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the world, and they are also to be found in important art collections. Rakia was a member of the Jewish Painters' Association, Paris, France, 1958 Select Group Exhibitions 2010 Primaries, The Bible (Beit Hatanach) Museum, Tel Aviv 2008 The First Decade Mishkan Le'omanut, Museum of Art, Kibbutz Ein Harod The Song of the Beggars: The Archetype of the Beggar in Israel Art, Beit Avi Chai, Jerusalem 2004 Salute to Jerusalem Artists, Municipal Art Gallery, Jerusalem 1994 Jerusalem Artists Creat in the Refinery in Ashdod, The Korin Maman Ashdod Museum 1985 Exposition des Artistes de Jérusalem, Grand Palais, Paris, France 1984 Sign and Symbol, Artists' House, Jerusalem 1978 künstler aus Jerusalem, Galerie Gisela Piro, Frankfurt, Germany 1972 Old and New in the Museum Collection, Yad Labanim Museum, Petach-Tikva Jacob El Hanani, Naftali Bezem, Yosl Bergner, Shraga Weil, Yossef Zaritsky, Anna Ticho, Lea Nikel, Yohanan Simon, Reuven Rubin, Reuven David Rakia, Hermann Struck, Jakob Steinhardt, Boris Schatz, and others. 1969 Art Festival, Painting & Sculpture in Israel , The Exhibition Grounds, Tel Aviv 1967 Artists in Israel for the Defense, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Helena Rubinstein Pavilion 1965 Group Exhibition, Nora Art Gallery, Jerusalem 1963, 1965 Central Exhibition, Art in Israel, Tel Aviv Art Museum 1962 Spring Exhibition - Jerusalem Artists, Artists' House, Jerusalem Select Solo Exhibitions 1957 Artists’ House, Jerusalem 1958 The Jewish Center, Zurich, Switzerland 1960 Rakiah, Comedy Gallery, London, England Recent Paintings, Rina Gallery, Jerusalem “Rakiah – Peintures”, Galerie Loujetzky, The Hague, Netherlands 1961 Exhibition of Paintings, Tel Aviv Art Museum 1962 Gouache paintings, Nora Art Gallery, Jerusalem 1964 David Rakia, Woodstock Gallery, London Oil Paintings and Gouaches, Nora Art Gallery, Jerusalem 1966 Exhibition of Paintings, ZOA House, Tel Aviv 1967 The Anne Frank House, Amsterdam 1976 Oil Paintings and Tapestry, Arta Gallery, Jerusalem 1977 Paintings, Graphics, Tapestries, Artists' House, Jerusalem 1979 “Legends of letters“, Museum Ha Aretz, Tel-Aviv 1989 “Exhibition of lithograph and linoleum cuts, Paris 1956-1959 “The Jerusalem Theatre 1999 Jerusalem Theatre, Jerusalem 2003 The Synagogue in Middelburg, Holland 2017 “Rakia's Windows “, Heichal Shlomo - The Wolfson Museum of Jewish Art, Jerusalem
  • Creator:
    David Rakia (1928 - 2012)
  • Creation Year:
    c.1960's
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 21 in (53.34 cm)Width: 27.25 in (69.22 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    good. minor waving to canvas. minor wear commensurate with age. please see photos. strip frame has wear.
  • Gallery Location:
    Surfside, FL
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU38215785742

More From This Seller

View All
Jerusalem Old City Cityscape Israeli Modernist Oil Painting Signed in Hebrew
Located in Surfside, FL
Signed Nathanson. Could be the famous artist Avraham Naton (Natanson) I am not certain. it is a very lovely Modernist Israeli landscape. Avraham Naton (Natanson), Israeli, born in Bessarabia, 1906-1959. Avraham Naton was born in Rani, Bessarabia to a large secular family. In 1935, after Art studies in Romania, he immigrated to the Land of Israel and settled, first, in Givat Haim and later in Ramat Gan. From the 1940s he worked as an Art teacher in Ramat Gan and Givataim. In 1948 he worked as an illustrator at BaMahane Newspaper. He was one of the Founders of New Horizon Group. Between 1952-1959 he was a member of the Milo Club and served as the club secretary. Education 1930-33 Art Academy, Bucharest, Romania Teaching 1940's Ramat Gan and Givataim Awards And Prizes Jerusalem Prize for Painting and Sculpture 1942 Dizengoff Prize 1953 Milo Club Prize New Horizons, The Ofakim Hadashim art movement began with a group of artists who mounted an exhibition in Tel Aviv's Habima national theater in December 1942, under the name "The Group of Eight". The group evolved into a coherent artistic movement only after the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. Members of the school included Arie Aroch, Zvi Meirovitch, Avraham Naton (Natanson), Avigdor Stematsky and Yehezkel Streichman. The work of sculptor Dov Feigin also appeared in the catalog of the 1942 exhibition, though it was not displayed. In February 1947 five of the original members of the group joined Joseph Zaritsky...
Category

1950s Modern Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Large Abstract landscape of Jerusalem Israeli Oil Painting Judaica
By Avraham Binder
Located in Surfside, FL
Avraham Binder was born in 1906 in Vilnius (or Vilna), now part of Lithuania. He began painting at an early age and completed the prescribed studies in painting at the academy of art...
Category

20th Century Modern Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Old City Jerusalem Landscape Russian Israeli Judaica Oil Painting
By Marina Grigoryan
Located in Surfside, FL
Genre: Realism Subject: Portrait Medium: Oil Surface: Canvas Country: Israel Dimensions: 31.5x23.5 Marina Grigoryan (Armenian/Russian/Israeli) was born in 1963 in Dushanbe, Russia. ...
Category

20th Century Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Modernist Old City Jerusalem Israel Landscape Oil Painting Zvi Livni Judaica Art
By Zvi Livni
Located in Surfside, FL
Jerusalem Landscape by Zvi Livni Frame: 25.5" X 31.5" Image: 17.5 X 23.5" Zvi Livni was born in the town of Lodz in Poland, and commenced his artistic education at the Art Academy in Warsaw. He came to Israel as a young man. Here he lived for many years in a kibbutz and was one of the founders of the artist group of the Kibbutz Artzi. He left Israel on several occasions in order to continue his studies and spent much time in the 1930's in Germany, France and Italy. Worked in lithograph printing and oil painting. Paintings at: President's Residence, Jerusalem,Museum of Art, Toronto, Boston University Museum. A founder of the Artists' Quarter, Safed. From 1953 lived in Safed. He was among the founders of the famous Israeli Artists' Colony in Safed, where he lives and works most of the year and where he exhibits at a permanent one-man show. He has also achieved a reputation as illustrator of various books and illuminator of Passover Haggadot. His paintings are to be found in many museums and well-known private collections in Israel, U.S.A., Canada and Europe, including the Residence of the President of the State of Israel, Jerusalem; the Museum of Art in Toronto, Canada; the Museum of Modern Art, Brandeis University, Boston; the Museum of Art, Yale University, New Haven; the Brooklyn Museum, New York. He was included in the show Art in Israel Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 1951 Artists: Mordechai Avnieli, Aviva Uri...
Category

Mid-20th Century Folk Art Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Old City Jerusalem City Walls landscape Scene Painting, Judaica
By Jossi Stern
Located in Surfside, FL
Vibrant Gouache and watercolor painting by Israeli master JOSSI STERN. on paper mounted to board. 31x34.75, 23.5x27.5 without frame. Hungary, b. 1923, d. 1992 Jossi (Yossi) Stern, son of David and Katerina, was born in the Bakon Hills of Hungary, in 1923. He was already drawing when at the age of ten he moved with his family from the Bakon Hill region to the considerably more cosmopolitan Budapest. Recognizing the looming threat of Hitler and the pending Nazi invasion of Hungary, in 1940, at the age of seventeen, the young artist made his way to Palestine aboard the Sakaria, an old ship heavily crowded with 2,300 other refugees. Before reaching the shores of Palestine, then under the British Mandate, the British Navy intercepted the ship and declared Stern and all those aboard illegal immigrants. Stern was sent to a prison camp where he remained incarcerated by the British for six months. In 1943, having spent a few years doing agricultural work, Stern was encouraged by close friends who recognized his artistic talent to enroll in the prestigious Bezalel School of the Arts in Jerusalem. An outstanding student, he eventually became a highly respected teacher of Graphic Arts at Bezalel. Stern is recognized in Israel as having been one of the country's premier artists...
Category

20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Watercolor, Gouache, Illustration Board

Large Edward Ben Avram Israeli Bezalel School Jerusalem Landscape Oil Painting
By Edward Ben Avram
Located in Surfside, FL
Jerusalem Israeli landscape cityscape with the Har Habayit, The Temple Mount. Size includes frame. canvas is 37.5 X 42.5 Edward Ben Avram (born 1941) is an Indian - Israeli artist who was born in Bombay, India and immigrated to Israel as a teenager. He graduated from the Bezalel School of Art and Design in 1965 and continues to call Jerusalem his home. Most of Ben Avraham oil painting and watercolors portrays Israeli cities, particularly the old city of Jerusalem with its architecture and orientalist domes and arches, religious festivals, and Bible stories. He paints in creamy sensual tones incorporating symbols such as doves, a menorah, and Shabbat candles. With his penchant for filigreed designs and bright colors, Edouard Ben Avram betrays some influences of his Indian boyhood. But the subjects that he paints so gracefully with a touch of Oriental lyricism are scenes of Jerusalem, his home for over 20 years. Exhibitions 1964 Group exhibitions in the United States and Canada 1977 Safrai Gallery, Jerusalem (a prestigious gallery that shows Abel Pann, Mordecai Ardon, Samuel Bak, Abraham Binder...
Category

1980s Modern Landscape Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

You May Also Like

View of Jerusalem, Framed Impressionist Landscape Oil Painting
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Unknown XXth Century Title: View of Jerusalem Medium: Oil on canvas, signed and titled in Hebrew Image Size: 19.5 x 26.5 in. (49.53 x 67.31 cm) Frame Size: 25 x 32 inches
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Landscape Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Jerusalem Art Framed by Obolski Israel
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Jerusalem art framed by Obolski Israel.   
Category

Late 20th Century Israeli Modern Decorative Art

Materials

Paper

Judaica Oil Painting By Shmuel Brand
By Shmuel Brand
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Shmuel Brand, German/Israeli (1921 - ) Title: Untitled Year: 1980 Medium: Oil with Mixed Media on Masonite, signed l.l Size: 39.5 x 27.5 in. (100.33 x 69.85 cm)
Category

1980s Abstract Abstract Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Mid Century Modern Cityscape Oil Painting On Canvas
Located in Countryside, IL
Mid-Century Modern cityscape oil painting on canvas This piece measures: 33.75 wide x 1.75 deep x 27.75 inches high This Painting is in e...
Category

Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Paint

Jerusalem, Contemporary Impressionist Landscape, 2023, Limited Edition
By Topher Straus
Located in Golden, CO
Immerse yourself in the timeless tapestry of Jerusalem with Topher Straus's captivating Limited Edition artwork. The golden Dome of the Rock dominates the ...
Category

2010s Abstract Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Metal

Impressionist Landscape Painting of the Holy City of Jerusalem
By Frank Freed
Located in Houston, TX
Lovely impressionistic painting of the Holy City of Jerusalem by Texas artist Frank Freed. Dimensions of painting itself: H 18 in. x W 24 in. Artist Biog...
Category

1960s Impressionist Landscape Paintings

Materials

Acrylic