Lea Nikel (1918-2005), Untitled, 1955.
Mixed media on paper. Signed and dated.
Lea Nikel (1918-2005) was born in Zhitomir, Ukraine and in 1920 immigrated with her family to Palestine. She took her first steps in painting at the age of 16 as the student of artist Chaim Gliksberg, later studying with Yechezkel Streichman and Avigdor Stematsky. During the years 1950-1961 she lived in Paris. At that time, she was introduced to Tachisme (a style of abstract painting characterized, among other things, by spontaneous brushwork, drips and blobs of paint) and her work went through a process of abstraction. In 1957, she underwent surgery to treat a brain hemorrhage that severely damaged her sight, but nonetheless continued painting. Nikel never associated herself with any art group or movement and did not change her unique style of abstract painting even when new styles became fashionable in Israel. She was awarded the Sandberg Prize for Israeli Art by the Israel Museum in 1972, the Dizengoff Prize in 1982 and the Israel Prize for painting in 1995 (together with Menashe Kadishman).
49X65 cm. Good-fair condition. Tears, some restored.
Provenance: The Uzi Agassi Collection.