Zvi Malnovitzer

The following year, Malnovitzer painted Exodus (2007), depicting the disengagement from the Gaza Strip, the unilateral evacuation of 21 civilian Jewish settlements. Although the work refers to a specific political event, he linked this modern day "exile" with ones that Jews have endured since Biblical times. This link is reinforced by the title – a direct reference to the Exodus from Egypt – and by his choice of portraying elderly figures, which make them more universal refugees, not exclusively those evicted from Gaza or Jews in general. They represent a condition of the loss of hope and of unanswered pleas from God.

Malnovitzer's art is inseparable from the history of his family and people. His notion of peoplehood reflects the idea that Jews are family, distant cousins of common ancestors who have ties to their ancient, Biblical homeland and now the modern State of Israel In Refugees (1987), Malnovitzer painted figures whose faces were undefined, but whose features, including head coverings, beads, and long clothing, made them readily identifiable as Jewish. Their dehumanized and indistinct faces convey the pain of repeated exiles throughout Jewish history. In this particular work, he alluded to a modern-day exile – a sequel to the Exodus from Egypt, the Babylonian exile, or expulsion from Spain – by portraying an uprooted Jewish settlement from hills of Samaria. It is the only painting ever produced on the subject.

In Cry (1984), Malnvotizer painted a Hasidic Jew spreading his arms in alarm, his mouth ajar and his awestruck eyes in terror. The figure directs his agony skyward in a gesture that connects the material to the spiritual world of faith. His Bull Dance (1985) addresses this connection in the opposite way – by revealing the living presence of the divine with earthly, bestial, and corruptible mankind. In this painting, former Hasidic Jews perform the dance of the bull, a symbol of the material world and of the golden calf, synonymous with decadence, materialism, and idol worship in the Jewish tradition.

Malnovitzer returned to Israel in 1978, during which time he painted works such as Tvila at the Mikveh. Full of passion from his experiences with and exposure to European Masters of painting, he sold his house and car to support his full-time vocation as an artist. After formally establishing his art career, he left Israel once again to study and work in Paris (1979).

In 1977, Malnovizer studied briefly at the Avni Institute in Tel Aviv. He continued his training in Europe, where he was introduced to the works of Rembrandt van Rijn at the Rijksmuseum (Dutch pronunciation: [rɛi̯ks myˈzeʏm]) (English: State Museum), a Dutch national museum in Amsterdam, Francisco de Goya at the Museo del Prado, the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid.

In 1966, Malnovitzer married his wife Bilha and began working in a carpentry workshop in south Tel Aviv. In this capacity, he befriended the locals of the neighborhood—including vendors, beggars, and drug addicts—who became the subjects of his work.

His commitment to energizing the Jewish cultural scene through painting was matched only by his pride to serve the recently established State of Israel. In 1963, Malnovizter was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). After his service, he was on reserve duty in the Burial Division.

Zvi Malnovitzer (Hebrew: צבי מלנוביצר, born 1945) is an expressionist painter born to a Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, religious family in Bnei Brak, Israel. His upbringing in a society isolated from the modern world, where he was dedicated to intensive and uninterrupted Talmudic study from a young age, makes his decision to become an artist unusual, bold, and one of accomplishment. During his training in Reichenau, Austria, where he studied under the auspices of artist Wolfgang Manner and under the direction of Ernst Fuchs (renowned exponent of Fantastic Realism, a 20th-century group of artists in Vienna combining techniques of the Old Masters with religious and esoteric symbolism), Malnvotizer developed a unique style portraying themes that straddle the religious and secular worlds.

Malnovitzer was born in 1945 as the only son of a Gur Hasidic family. His father was Polish and his mother German. For his early schooling, his parents sent him to cheder (Hebrew: חדר, meaning "room"), a traditional elementary school that taught the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. During his religious studies, Malnovitzer began to paint, using old bed sheets and scraps of wood to create his first oil on canvas work. Young Zvi's talents were soon recognized by his neighbor in Bnei Brak and accomplished Israeli artist, Yehuda Wallersteiner, who agreed to be his teacher at age 13. Wallensteiner taught the young artist the fundamentals of painting in the heart of the Haredi city of Bnei Brak, a society that observes Jewish law so strictly that art is rare. "I would return to Wallensteiner until I felt that I made paintings that were up to his caliber", Malnvoitzer said. Other artists began to notice the boy's talent. For instance, the sculptor Ellul Kussov gave him a recommendation, expressing enthusiasm for his gift for painting.

While Malnovitzer's work is inspired by the prolific portraits of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) and the Romanticism of Francisco de Goya (1746–1828), his style is unique in that it combines European Expressionism with traditional and religious themes. The way he paints is reflective of the way he lives his life - by embracing modern ideas while continuing to preserve his religious traditions. The subjects in his paintings are diverse, ranging from rabbis, to Holocaust survivors, to patrons at coffee shops. The one characteristic that all his works share is that his subjects’ faces, especially their eyes, speak volumes about their life story. The humanity and the universality of his art has made him known throughout the world – in Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Paris, New York City, Los Angeles, London, Amsterdam, Sydney, Berlin, and many other cities where his paintings have appeared in auctions, at galleries, and in exhibitions.