Benjamin Kletzel
Walls of Jerusalem, three parts

Walls of Jerusalem, three parts

Acrylic on canvas, each work – 50x50 cm , 2007, signed

Acquired by the present owner directly from the artist in his studio in 2011 

Reproduced in the book: The Art of Benjamin Kletzel. A Disciple of the Turkestan Avant-Garde, “Jack of Diamonds”, and the Legacy of the Jewish Mosntparnasse (Moscow/Jerusalem, 2014), pp. 196–198 [in Russian].

_{Benjamin Kletzel was born in 1932 (Pervomaisk, a town near Odessa, USSR). Since 1941 his family lived in Tashkent. In 1943-1945 he studied at the studio for young artists, and among his teachers was a prominent artist Alexander Volkov (famous for his “Pomegranate Chaikhana”); in 1950 he became a student of the Tashkent Art College. In 1952-1955 he served in the Soviet Army as a conscript. Since 1960 he studied at the Art Department of the Tashkent Theater and Art Institute. Having graduated from the Institute, he moved to Samara (former Kuybyshev) on the Volga River, where he lived for many years, gave classes at the Art School and, as an assistant professor of Civil Engineering Institute, taught architectural students at the Chair of Drawing. His works were presented at various local, regional and All-Union art exhibitions (in Samara only he had five solo exhibitions). In 1976 he became the member of the USSR Artists Union.}

In 1990 Benjamin Kletzel repatriated to Israel, and since then his home was Jerusalem. During his Israeli period Kletzel’s works were presented at many group exhibitions; his solo exhibitions were organized in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Russia and the USA. In 2002 the Immigrant’s Cultural Center (Jerusalem) housed the special exhibition to celebrate the artist’s 70th Jubilee. 

_{Benjamin Kletzel’s works can be found in museums, galleries, and private collections in Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Russia, South Africa, and the USA.}