Moshe Tamir

Moshe Tamir was born in 1924 in Odesa

Moshe Tamir, born Tolchinsky, was born in Odesa in 1924. In 1927 he immigrated with his family to the Land of Israel, and his mother died that same year. The family lived in Kiryat Haim and moved to Jerusalem in 1939.

In 1942 he joined a training group at Kibbutz Beit Alfa and worked as a shepherd. He left the kibbutz to study art at the New Bezalel school in Jerusalem from 1944 to 1947, and won the Hermann Struck prize in his second year. He later studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome from 1949 to 1952 and at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

During the War of Independence he fought in the defense of Jerusalem. In a pause in the fighting he drew a large charcoal mural of Palmach soldiers. His early paintings, such as "Wounded Amnon" from 1948, showed soldiers and victims in an expressive style.

He lived in Paris in 1955 to 1960 and 1961 to 1963. In the 1950s he began using heavy impasto, with images of animals, birds and mystical themes. From 1963 to 1988 he was national inspector of art studies at the Ministry of Education, where he started an art week in schools. He was married to the artist Tamara Tamir and died on 13 November 2004.