Avigdor Stematsky

Stematsky was born in Odessa, Russia, in 1908 and was brought to Palestine in 1920. He studied at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem and in Paris.[1] His later work reflected the lyrical currents of the School of Paris.[2]

In the context of Israeli art's development during the 1930s and 1940s, Stematsky is described as exhibiting "a more moderate expressionism together with post-impressionist influences," placing him among artists shaped by European artistic traditions.[2]

Stematsky worked for many years as a landscapist before beginning his turn toward abstraction around 1948. His abstract work employed color contrasts while continually suggesting a connection with nature, with his watercolors described as "subtle" and his oils as "violent and dramatic."[1]

Within New Horizons, Stematsky adopted Yosef Zaritsky's atmospheric lyrical style, characterized by identifiable fragments of the local landscape and cool color tones.[3] He and fellow painter Yehezkel Streichman were influenced by Picasso and by the lyrical currents of the School of Paris.[2] Their contribution belonged to a broader lyrical abstraction that combined a free abstract style with the light and color palette of local experience.[2]

Stematsky taught painting for several years at the Avni Institute of Painting and Sculpture in Tel Aviv.[1] Alongside Streichman, he strongly influenced a second generation of Israeli artists—including Raffi Lavi, Aviva Uri, Uri Lifschitz, and Lea Nikel—who challenged the refined brushwork of lyrical abstractionism with pluralistic expressive and figurative abstract styles drawn from sources abroad.[3] Lyrical abstraction dominated Israeli art until 1955, and Stematsky and Streichman helped form a second generation that took abstraction in new, at times more extreme, directions.[2]

Stematsky was one of the founders of the New Horizons group, established in 1947–48, which brought together painters including Yosef Zaritsky, Marcel Janco, and Yehezkel Streichman.[1][2] The group sought to free Israeli painting from its local character and literary associations and bring it into the sphere of contemporary European art.[3] Its formation marked the end of the expressionist phase in Israeli art and opened the way to new artistic ideas.[2]

New Horizons made a decisive contribution to the development of lyrical abstraction in Israel, combining a free abstract style with an emphasis on the light and color palette associated with local experience.[2] The group legitimized abstract art in Israel and remained its dominant force until the early 1960s.[3] Group exhibitions continued until 1963.[2] As a founder, Stematsky participated in that effort while adopting the atmospheric lyrical approach associated with Zaritsky.[1][3]

Stematsky's stature in Israeli art history is reflected in a 1972 exhibition at The Israel Museum in Jerusalem, which surveyed his paintings from 1939 to 1972. Its bilingual catalog was issued as no. 95 of the museum's publication series, with text by Yona Fischer and photographs by Israel Tzafrir.[4] A Boris Carmi photograph captured Stematsky at work in June 1972, during the opening month of the exhibition, and is held in the Meitar Collection of the Pritzker Family National Photography Collection.[5]

His canvases also entered the David J. Azrieli Collection and were discussed in connection with the Tel Aviv Museum of Art exhibition "Matters of the Heart: A Selection from the David J. Azrieli Collection."[6] In 1985, Stematsky was the subject of a two-person conversation on Isaac Levani's program Between Friday and Saturday, for which handwritten questions and discussion points survive in the National Library of Israel's archive.[7] Stematsky died in 1989.[1] His work contributed to modern Israeli painting, while his teaching influenced artists who carried abstraction in new directions.[2][3]