Artist: Yosl Bergner (1920–2017)
Technique: Lithograph on Paper
Dimensions: 29x35 cm
Status: Signed (Lower Right), Marked A.P (Lower Left), Unframed
About the Artwork:
This original lithograph by Israel Prize laureate Yosl Bergner features one of his most recognized motifs: levitating kerosene lamps. Seven lamps float in the upper composition against a dark, crosshatched sky. Below, a minimalist landscape depicts structures resembling an old city or Safed, facing a distant shoreline. The artwork is an Artist's Proof (A.P), hand-signed by the artist in Hebrew and English in the lower right corner and marked on the lower left.
About the Artist:
Yosl Bergner (1920–2017) was a seminal Israeli painter and illustrator whose nomadic early life profoundly shaped his unique artistic vision. Born in Vienna and raised in Poland, Bergner emigrated to Australia as a young man before finally making Israel his home in 1950. His experiences of displacement and migration deeply influenced his art, making him a central figure in Israeli surrealism and expressionism. Bergner became world-renowned for his allegorical and hauntingly poetic depictions of inanimate, displaced objects—such as floating kerosene lamps, broken chairs, and old kitchen utensils—which he used as symbols to evoke memory, Jewish heritage, and the human condition. Over his long and celebrated career, his immense contribution to local culture was recognized with the prestigious Dizengoff Prize in 1956 and the Israel Prize for Painting in 1980. Today, his iconic works are celebrated globally and held in major permanent museum collections, including the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art.