Avraham Ofek

Who was Avraham Ofek?

Avraham Ofek was an Israeli sculptor, muralist, painter and printmaker. Born in Burgas, Bulgaria, he immigrated to Israel in 1949, where he lived in Ein Hamifratz, a kibbutz near Haifa. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, as well as in Spain and in London, and later taught art in Jerusalem before being appointed head of the Art Department at the University of Haifa. He was one of the founders of the Levitan group of artists, and he exhibited internationally, receiving many prizes and representing Israel at the Venice Biennale in 1972.

Avraham Ofek's early paintings contained portrayals of landscape that were at once lyrical and rugged; later in his career, most depictions of the landscape appeared as undefined and receded into the background. Near the end of his life, however, the actual landscape of Jerusalem returned to assume an important role in Ofek's work, this time embodied in images that reflect the loss and despair that engulfed the artist. Many of Ofek's landscapes are laden with a sense of alienation and solitude, as well as nostalgia for the city of his birth, Sofia.

His murals can be seen across Israel, notably at Kfar Uria and the Central Post Office Building. His sculpture "The Binding of Isaac" is on view at the entrance to Safra Square.