Hagit Shahal

Hagit Shahal is an Israeli painter and printmaker who worked as a courtroom sketch artist and newspaper illustrator.

born 1950Courtroom sketches of major trialsYedioth Ahronoth weekend cover portraitsPrints and drawings of women

Born: 15 December 1950, Tel Aviv
Occupation: painter, illustrator
Education: Vrije Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten

Hagit Shahal was born in 1950 in Tel Aviv

Hagit Shahal was born in Tel Aviv in 1950. Her parents both came to Mandatory Palestine from Poland. Her father, Moshe Shahal, was a lawyer and had been active in Betar, and her mother, Mina Shahal, was a teacher.

She studied art at the Free Academy in The Hague from 1969 to 1972, then returned to Israel and settled in Tel Aviv. In 1977 and 1978 she studied lithography and screen printing. Between 2010 and 2012 she took engraving workshops at Crown Point Press in San Francisco.

From 1989 to 1991 she drew trials for ABC News, and from 1991 to 1996 for Israel's Channel 2. She sketched the trials of John Demjanjuk and Yigal Amir. From 1992 to 2000 she illustrated the front pages of the Yedioth Ahronoth weekend supplement, drawing figures such as Dahn Ben-Amotz, Hanoch Levin and many politicians.

She has taught painting and drawing since 1975, including at the Kalischer Art School and in her own studio. She helped found the artists' organization Impact and sat on its board until 2008. In 2015 she joined the Association for Women's Art and Gender Research in Israel and was elected to its board.

Milestones in Hagit Shahal's life

1950
Born in Tel Aviv.
1969
Began art studies at the Free Academy in The Hague.
1972
Returned to Israel and settled in Tel Aviv.
1975
Began teaching painting and drawing.
1989
Began working as a courtroom sketch artist for ABC News.
1991
Began drawing trials for Channel 2.
1992
Began illustrating front pages for Yedioth Ahronoth's weekend supplement.
2015
Elected to the board of the Association for Women's Art and Gender Research.