Photographed by Stanley Batkin

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Yehezkel Streichman, an Israeli painter, was born on June 15, 1906 in Kovno, Lithuanian. He immigrated to Israel in 1924.
Streichman studied at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem between 1924–1927. He then completed his studies in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts (1927) and in Florence at the Academy of Art (1928–31). His early works show the influence of modern art, particularly expressionism and the "School of Paris". Most of his works in the first years in Israel were traditional subjects such as portraits, female nudes and other domestic subjects. A few of his works were of outdoor scenes. The painting style he developed was significantly modern, and used expressive brush strokes and dark colors.
In 1944 he and Avigdor Stematsky formed the Studia Art School, because they felt that Israeli art schools were too conservative. In 1948 Streichman was one of the founders of "New Horizons," a group of artists seeking to advance modern art in Israel, and universality as a cultural value. Under the influence of the group, and particularly under the influence of Yossef Zaritsky, Streichman's art tended more and more towards abstraction, which reached the peak of its popularity at the beginning of the 1960s. His work from this period shows a synthesis of influences: between the Cubism of Georges Braque and the lyric abstraction of "New Horizons," and between the image of reality and abstraction. In 1964, he and Yechiel Shemi and other artists formed a group of artists called Tatzpit (Vantage Point). From the 1970s onward, Streichman' art tends towards light colors and broad brushstrokes on top of a geometric structure.
He died on January 12, 1993, in Tel Aviv, at the age of 86.

Education

1924-1926 - Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design, Jerusalem
1927 - Architecture, Paris, France
1928-1931 - Academy of Art, Florence, Italy
1930s- Jewish École de Paris, France

Teaching

1936 Painting in elementary and high schools
1941 Kibbutz Ashdot Yaakov, painting
1944 Avni Institute, Tel Aviv, painting
1954-79 Avni Institute, Tel Aviv, painting

Awards and Prizes

1976-77 Study scholarships, Haifa Technion
1989 Award of Excellence, Miniature Exhibition, Toronto, Canada
1999 Ministry of Culture Scholarship. 2001 Herman Shtruck Prize, Haifa. From 1980 has lived and worked in Tivon.