About: Arieh Aroch
1974 - 1908
Arieh Aroch was born in 1908 in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov, where he lived with his family until they immigrated to Israel in 1924. Aroch's family maintained a traditional lifestyle and espoused the values and education Zionism. From a very young age Aroch aimed to paint, so he attended painting and handicraft classes at the school. It can be understood that his parents welcomed his interest in the field of art, since as soon as they immigrated to Tel Aviv, when Aroch was 16, he began studying art at the Bezalel School in Jerusalem. There, Aroch studied for a year and a half with his classmates Ezekiel Streichman and Avigdor Steimatzky. When he returned to Tel Aviv, he studied at the Herzliya Gymnasium the math's class. In 1932 he spent long hours studying in Yosef Zaritzky's studio in Tel Aviv. During this period he began to formulate a more airy and abstract pictorial style, open and Mediterranean. Like Zaritzky, over the years, his works moved towards the abstract form. In 1934 he traveled to study in Paris for a period of two years. The works of art he created during this period are influenced by the artists of the Paris School in the style of Expressionism. In 1939, Aroch returned to Tel Aviv and in 1948 was one of the founders of the "New Horizons" group. Upon joining the group his pictorial style returned to the abstract and focused his works on forms of various kinds, for example, from children’s paintings to childhood memories. Aroch's painting technique includes scribbles and erasures, engravings and writing. Aroch was among one of the pioneering artists in the Erez Israeli art movement , during the second half of the 20th century. Arochs unique aesthetic is reflected in his works by the combination of lyrical abstract and the effects of pop art. The abstraction in his art is related to the influence of Yosef Zaritzky who long spent a lot of time in his studio. The unique technique in which Aroch created and the style of his abstract painting had an impact on generations of artists that came after him, such as Rafi Lavi and Aviva Uri. Arieh Aroch won many awards during his life for his artistic work. Aroch held important solo exhibitions at the Tel Aviv Museum and the Israel Museum, an honor reserved only for the best Israeli artists. In 1955 he won the Dizengoff Prize from the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, in 1968 he won the Sandberg Prize from the Israel Museum and in 1971 he won the Israel Prize for Painting.
