Israeli-Aussie bond forged through art
HALF a century ago artist Yosl Bergner won acclaim for his groundbreaking art in Australia. Then he settled in Israel and the accolades have continued.
WHEN artist Yosl Bergner arrived in Australia from Europe in 1937, he studied at the National Gallery Art School and soon became part of the influential Melbourne art scene with Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd, Albert Tucker and John Perceval.
Bergner, who was born in Vienna in 1920 and grew up in Warsaw, came to Australia through a twist of fate — his father, Yiddish poet Melech Ravitch, made the journey to investigate an offer of land in the Kimberley region of Western Australia as a possible homeland for the Jewish people in the wake of rising Nazism in Europe.
While the homeland idea did not eventuate, Bergner remained in Australia and years later would travel to the Kimberleys to meet Aboriginal artists and learn more about their work.
When World War II started, Bergner joined the Australian Army and served for four-and-a-half years before continuing his art school studies.
Bergner encouraged his artist friends to look beyond the traditional landscape and adopt a more radical approach to subject matter from the plight of people.
In 1948, Bergner decided to return to Europe to work and, after two years of travelling and exhibiting in Paris, Montreal and New York, he settled in the newly-established State of Israel where he continued his artistic career. In 1980, he was awarded the Israel Prize for painting.
Today, Bergner, who is almost 90, spends several hours a day in his Jerusalem studio where his paintings are as creative as ever.
Israeli-born Australian artist and master printer Shaike Snir has been a lifelong friend of Bergner and visits him each year when travelling to Israel to note the latest trends in the vibrant Israeli art scene.
“When I first met Yosl in the 1970s, he said he was not a Zionist, but he does so much for Israel through his painting. He went to live in Israel because it is a Jewish state,” says Snir.
“Yosl has been unbelievably prolific and is still working on new exhibitions. He has won many prizes in Israel and is very much loved by everyone. When Australians come to revalue their artistic heroes and give them proper recognition, he will be remembered as an extraordinary artist. I want to have an exhibition of his works in Australia, but he says he’s not interested!”
Bergner was a key figure in the artistic life of Snir, providing a mentoring role in his early years.
“Our families were friends in Israel for a long time,” recalls Snir, who was born in 1952. “Yosl gave my father a painting on the occasion of my birth and when I was attending art school in Tel Aviv he would often come to my home to try to teach me about painting, but we would always have a lot of arguments.
“As long as there was mutual respect, the arguments were no problem.”
Snir says that Bergner regarded himself as a painter rather than an artist. “An artist is someone who sits around and talks about art; a painter is a professional painter.”
Bergner has exhibited extensively in Australia, including a major retrospective at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1985, as well as exhibitions in the United States Canada, France, the Czech Republic and of course, Israel.
The Israeli art scene is currently enjoying wide success, according to Snir, with numerous exhibitions and thriving galleries.
“In the 1980s, all the art galleries were in one street in Tel Aviv, but today there are lots of galleries and collectors spread around Tel Aviv,” says Snir.
“The arts are healthy in Israel and Israeli artists are exhibiting around the world. The art world has become more open to Israeli art in the past 15 years.”
Snir believes that the constant threat to Israel’s security over the years has played an important role in the art world.
“The constant tension in Israel is not good for life, but is good for creative art.”
Snir has a collection of his own artwork on display in the Passport Café, Elsternwick, in memory of Dr Bruria Bergman, a regular coffee drinker at the Melbourne café who died last year.
DANNY GOCS
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