Jossi Stern Portrait Paintings

Vibrant oil painting on canvas by Israeli master JOSSI STERN. (Hungarian-Israeli 1923-1992) Framed 37.5 X 31 sight 30 X 24 Provenance: this bears a partial label from Safrai Gallery (at Pucker Gallery Boston) 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. His drawings are exhibited and appear in many publications and museums worldwide. Stern was the recipient of numerous awards including the Jerusalem Medal as well as both the UNESCO and Herzl Prize. Yossi Stern is known for Painting, illustration, photography, printmaking, teaching. Stern was known as "the Painter of Jerusalem" and one of Israel's foremost artist. Stern, a Holocaust survivor from Hungary, put special emphasis in his drawings on depicting the "new Jew," a sabraon kibbutz, wearing shorts, sandals and looking tough. But along with his popular drawings, particularly for children books and the press, Stern slowly earned a place as a serious painter whose work was known worldwide. He was also a popular art teacher at the Bezalel Arts Academy here. He was included in the exhibition New Bezalel Artists' House, Jerusalem Tel Aviv Museum, along with Artists: Ludwig Wolpert, Joseph Budko, Gershon Knispel, Gershon Avigdor Arikha, Maryan, Jacob Steinhardt, Ruth Schloss, Mordecai Ardon, Naftali Bezem. He was also included in the exhibition A People Build Its Land: Israeli History as Reflected in Art Herzliya Museum, Artists: Avraham Ofek, Larry Abramson, Arieh Allweil, Yosl Bergner, Samuel Bak, Ludwig Blum, Naftali Bezem, Ephraim Moshe Lilien...