Aharon April

Aharon April
Born 6 June 1932
Lithuania
Nationality USSR, Israeli
Education Surikov Academy of Fine Arts
Known for Painting, Sculpture

Aharon April (Russian: Аарон Априль; Hebrew: אהרון אפריל‎) is a former Russian artist and contemporary Israeli artist born in Lithuania in 1932. April's works are in the major public and private collections in Europe, Russia and United States. 48 of April's works are exhibited in various museums around the world.

Biography

April was born in Vilkaviškis, Lithuania in 1932 to a Jewish family. Aprils' family was exiled to Siberia in 1941, where he grew up and got his first impressions of the bleak color emanating from the northern land. In 1948, he managed to enter the Moscow Art School in Memory of 1905, from where he had to return to Siberia after the Soviet authorities had launched an anti-Semitic campaign known as “The Doctors’ Plot.” April graduated from an art school in the city of Yakutsk. He pursued his interest in history by attending lectures at a local pedagogical institute. An opportunity to study in Moscow arose after the death of Stalin and in 1960, April graduated from the Surikov Academy of Fine Arts. In 1972 April he immigrated to Israel where he still lives.[1][2]

Artistic career

After his graduation from the Surikov Academy of Fine Arts April took part in many national and international exhibitions. April’s first solo exhibition “Behind the Seven Seas” took place at Moscow in 1971. The works centered on the artist’s experience of sailing to India on board a trading ship. A new chapter of April’s life and work began in 1972 after he received permission to immigrate to Israel and settled down in Jerusalem. April held many Regular personal exhibitions in Israel,[3] North America, Germany, Switzerland, France and Russia[4][5][6] In 1975-76 He held the Chairman position of the jerusalem artists and sculptors association and was teaching art till 1983 in the University of Haifa, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. In 1991 April became the Manager of Sa-nur Artists' Village (An artists’ community consisted of immigrants from the Soviet Union). a position he held till 1999. In 2001, April was awarded the Ish-Shalom Foundation Prize for the “Special Achievements in the Development of Art” and in 2005 he was elected as honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts.[7]

Artistic Style

The art style of Aaron April moves from contemplative figurativism to expressive symbolism. April’s paintings impress with their colorful, temperamental riot of colors(Victoria Khan-Magomedova). However, within this chaos, one can find subject and content. Critics(Victoria Khan-Magomedova, Mathy Fisher)noted that Aharon April is one of those artists who can tame the chaos, prompting viewers to formulate answers to the questions posed by the artistic work, and solve the mystery of it. There lies the leading value of the artwork.(Salvator Daly and others). From the seemingly erratic pulsating strokes, one can discover crop faces, figures and even biblical characters.(Efgraf Kontchin). Color in April’s paintings has special meaning (largely because of extensive experience in watercolor), which combines the finest nuances of color combination of Mideteranian nature and compositions involving biblical and universal themes.(Wladimir Prokhorov, Mathy Fisher).

Selected Works

Selected Albums and Books

References

  1. ↑ "The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Aharon April "Song of Songs which is Salomon's" (Catalog) (Jerusalem-Tel aviv:, Artists House and Rosenfeld Gallery)
  4. ↑ "The Art of Aharon April" by Matti Fischer, Article from a book on Aharon April's Art, Moscow: Moscow Museum of Modern Art, 2002, pages 8-10
  5. ↑ "The Painting of Aharon April" by Matti Fischer, Article from a book on Aharon April's art. Published by the Tretyakov State Gallery 2008, Moscow: 2008, pages 169-172. (in Hebrew with an English and Russian summary).
  6. ↑ "Unconscious reality". www.mmoma.ru. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  7. ↑ “Aharon April Retrospective”, by Alexander Rozhin (ed.), M-Scanrus, Moscow 2007,page 162

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