Yeshayahu Sheinfeld

Yeshayau Sheinfeld (Scheinfeld) (1909–1979) was an Israeli painter and industrialist who is listed as one of the Founders and Builders of Israel.^[1] He was born in Bassarabia and in 1929 he came to the stark presence of the Mandate Palestine. He first reside in Magdiel but in 1941 left to the neighborhood of Petach Tikva where he found employment as a stone cutter and a road worker. In 1947 he established his own stone cutting factory which for days became one of the biggest quarries in Israel, producing thousands of tons of aggregates daily to the Israeli construction and road industry.

Painting career

It was only in 1969 when the sixty years old Scheinfeld first took up a brush and applied color to paper. In his first year, unwilling to reveal the need for self-expression, Scheinfeld worked surreptitiously in the early mornings or late nights - when no one was about.

Just a year later, in 1970, after a successful group exhibition in the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art, it became clear that Scheinfeld is one of the striking artists to figure in the local Naïve Self Taught art. Although his usual subject matter was the scenery of the land of Israel, Scheinfeld introduced the landscape using a mosaic pattern, something that had become his unique artistic signature. While Scheinfeld’s favorite mediums were tempera and ink on board, he also worked in various other mediums including acrylic on canvas and board, etching with hand painted colors, mixed media collage and even weaving.

Between 1971 and 1975 Scheinfeld has gained a wide international recognition and his artworks have been exhibited not only in Israel, but also around Europe and North and South America. In 1975 Scheinfeld’s colorful pen and ink artwork ‘Aqueduct’ was awarded to feature in UNICEF’s New Year Round collection.^[2]

Although Scheinfeld had only a short ten-year career as an artist, in 2004 he was awarded by INSITA, the International Triennial congress of the Naïve self-thought Art, to be one of the four exceptional artists who played a major role in the international context of 20th century art.^[3]

Collections

• Petach-Tikva Museum of Art, Petach-Tikva, Israel
• The President's Residence, Jerusalem, Israel
• Stadshof Nijmegen, The Netherlands^[4]
• Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia^[5]
• Musee d’Art spontane, Bruxelles, Belgium^[6]
• Musea Oost-Vlaanderen in Evolutie (MovE) Gent, Belgium^[7]
• Museum of La Creation Franche Begles, France^[8]
• The Magnes Collection of Jewish art and life, Berkeley University of California, United States
• Gallery of International Naive Art (GINA), Tel Aviv, Israel^[9]

Exhibitions

1970

• Yad-Lebanim Museum, Petach Tikva, Israel
• Tel-Aviv Museum of Art, Tel-Aviv, Israel

1971

• Municipal Museum, Holon, Israel
• Israel-America Cultural Foundation, New York, USA
• The Union of American Hebrew Congregations, New York, USA
• Gallery La Boetle, New York, USA
• The Naive Art Gallery, New York, USA
• The Great Neck Library, New York, USA
• Traklin Gallery, Haifa, Israel
• Ben Yehuda Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel

1972

• The Naïve Art Gallery, São Paulo, Brazil
• The Magnes Collection of Jewish art and life, Berkeley USA^[10]

1973

• Queens County Art & Cultural Center, New York, USA
• Ile Mostra Internazionale dei Naifs Contemporanei, Lugano, Switzerland
• Great Neck Library, New York, USA
• Weizmann Institute of Science, Rechovot, Israel
• Yad-Lebanim Museum, Petach Tikva, Israel

1974

• Gumprecht Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
• Regard Gallery, Lyon, France
• Ben Uri Museum, London, UK^[11]

1975

• UNICEF’s Year Round collection, The United Nations NY, USA
• Runhof Gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany
• France TV art expo (French public national TV), Paris, France
• Sara Bar Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

1976

• Yad-Lebanim Museum, Petach Tikva, Israel

1977

• Canada-Israel Cultural Foundation, Montreal, Canada
• The Museum of Modern Art, Haifa, Israel

1978

• Delson Richter Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel

1980

• Petach Tikva Museum of Art, "In memory of J. Scheinfeld", Petach Tikva, Israel^[12]

1984

• Rein C G Galleries, Minneapolis, USA
• The Museum of Modern Art, Haifa, Israel

1987

• Galerie de Oogappel, Haarlem, the Netherlands
• Galerie Hamer, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

1990

• Galerie Hamer, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

2000

• Galerie Hamer, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

2004

• Galerie Hamer, "Yeshayahu Scheinfeld", Amsterdam, the Netherlands^[13]
• Galerie Hamer, "Naieven Outsiders", Amsterdam, the Netherlands^[14]
• Slovak National Gallery, INSITA 2004, Bratislava, Slovakia^[15]

2007

• Petach Tikva Museum of Art, "Petting Corner", Petach Tikva, Israel^[16]
• Monart Art Museum, Ashdod, Israel
• Slovak National Gallery, INSITA 2007, Bratislava, Slovakia^[17]

2008

• Petach Tikva Museum of Art, "Etchings, Scratches and Scars- Changing Representations of the Israeli Soldier", Petach Tikva, Israel^[18]
• Kunsthaus Kannen, "Magic Arquitecture", Münster, Germany

2012

• Musée d'art spontané, "Visions Orientales Exposition d'Adib Fattal et Yeshayahu Scheinfeld", Brussels, Belgium^[19]

2014

• Petach Tikva Museum of Art, "Sea, Sail & a Boat", Petach Tikva, Israel^[20]
• Petach Tikva Museum of Art, "Fracture", Petach Tikva, Israel^[21]

2015

• Petach Tikva Museum of Art, "Urban Legend", Petach Tikva, Israel^[22]

References