Moshe Givati B. 1934

Landmarks of Israeli art are interwoven in Moshe Givati’s paintings, which range between lyrical abstraction and figuration. He was a mainstay of the Israeli art scene of the 60’s, 70’s and 80's,  and he participated in numerous major exhibitions, such as the Autumn Salons held by Haim Gamzu in the 1960s and the “Ten Plus” exhibitions organized by Raffi Lavie.

The present work illustrates a major shift in Givati’s oeuvre that took place shortly after a severe health crisis experienced in 1999. ‘It is an intimate painting that documents Givati’s engagement in poetry, and heralds the use he will make of language in his paintings…The sentence “There are no black flowers” indicates the duality of a reality in which flowers symbolize the color of liveliness, while black symbolizes bereavement and the end of the road. Givati’s work will shift from now on between these two poles – moments of joyful color on the one hand, and the attraction of fear arousing black, on the other. (Marc Sheps, “Moshe Givati, Paintings, 2000-2006; First Exposure” in Givati Paintings 1960-2006 (exhibition catalogue), Tel Aviv, 2006, p. 333)