Artist: Yosef Kossonogi (1908–1981)
Technique: Watercolor on Paper
Dimensions: 24x34 cm
Status: Signed and Inscribed "Ein Karem" (Lower Right)
About the Artwork:
This original watercolor painting by Israeli artist Yosef Kossonogi captures the terraced stone architecture and vegetation of Ein Karem, Jerusalem. The composition features a local stone retaining wall on the left, leading along a path lined with cypress and olive trees. The background shows sun-washed hills characteristic of the Judean landscape. The artwork is hand-signed and inscribed with the location "Ein Karem" by the artist in the lower right corner.
About the Artist:
Yosef Kossonogi (1908–1981) was a prominent Israeli painter whose luminous masterworks captured the unique light and fluid beauty of the local landscape. Born in Budapest to a family of Eastern European Jewish heritage, his distinctive surname reflects deep regional roots that preceded his journey to Israel. After pursuing academic art training at the Berlin Academy of Art and traveling across France, Italy, and Spain, he immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1926. Settling in Tel Aviv, Kossonogi became a dynamic force in the evolving local scene as a founding member of the influential "Massad" artists' collective. He earned widespread renown as an absolute master of the aquarelle (watercolor) medium, celebrated for his rare ability to blend fluid figurative compositions with dreamlike lyrical abstraction. His exceptional command of atmosphere earned him the prestigious Dizengoff Prize for Painting twice, in 1944 and 1954. Today, his highly sought-after works are celebrated as benchmarks of early Israeli modernism and are held in major public collections, including the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.