A life shaped by light and color

Avigdor Stematsky arrived in Palestine from Odessa in 1921 as part of his family's move. His early years were spent in the Neve Shalom neighborhood of Tel Aviv, a place where his father’s bookshop would eventually become known as Steimatzky. He began his formal training at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, studying alongside figures like Arie Aroch and Moshe Castel. In 1929, he moved to Paris to study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and Académie Colarossi. This period in France brought a shift toward the values of modernism.

The way he handled paint changed as his surroundings did. In his early years, his work often featured black contours and a more structured view of the world, such as his depiction of Jerusalem in 1928. He later moved away from these lines. Under the influence of Yitzhak Frenkel’s studio in Tel Aviv, he began to prioritize color over shape. He learned to use paint to suggest space rather than relying on auxiliary lines to define it.

The evolution of a style

His work moved through several distinct phases. During the 1930s and 1940s, his paintings were often figurative, focusing on portraits and landscapes with heavy, warm, and rich oil colors. He was part of the Massad group and later became a founding member of the New Horizons movement. As time passed, his subject matter drifted away from recognizable figures toward abstraction. By the late 1950s and into the 1960s, his canvases became more abstract, though traces of the natural world remained visible.

The textures in his work reveal a specific way of working with layers. He often used light, pastel watercolors that felt subtle on the paper. In later years, he began to layer oil pastels over these watercolors, using them as a binding layer before applying translucent oil colors. This technique allowed him to create depth through contrast and light.

• Lyrical abstract art
• Late cubism influences
• Use of oil pastels and heavy oil colors
• Light pastel watercolors

Recognition and legacy

Stematsky spent much of his career teaching, notably at the Avni Institute of Art and Design in Tel Aviv. His presence in the Israeli art scene was marked by several specific honors, including the Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture in 1941 and 1956. He also received the Sandberg Prize for Israeli Art in 1976 and the Meir Sherman Prize from the Israel Museum in 1973.

His paintings are held in various collections, including the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. His work remains a part of the history of Israeli abstract art, noted for its connection to nature even as it moved into full abstraction.