Art and designיוחנן סימון

Yohanan Simon

Yohanan Simon was a German-born Israeli painter known for his murals and for his work in the kibbutz movement.

1905 to 1976Murals in public buildingsSocial realist kibbutz paintingCo-founding Oranim's art instituteMembership in New Horizons group

Born: 3 November 1905, Berlin
Died: 16 January 1976, Tel Aviv
Occupation: painter
Education: Beaux-Arts de Paris

Yohanan Simon was born in 1905 in Berlin

Yohanan Simon was born in Berlin in 1905. His father was a coal merchant who collected antiques. He began to draw at age 5.

He first studied medicine at the University of Berlin, then turned to art. In 1926 he enrolled at the art academy in Frankfurt, where he studied painting under Max Beckmann. From 1931 he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

In Paris he worked as a graphic editor for a weekly linked to Vogue. In 1934 he was sent to New York, where he assisted on Diego Rivera's mural at Rockefeller Center. He held his first solo exhibition in Paris in 1935.

He immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1936 and joined Kibbutz Gan Shmuel, working in farming and other jobs. He taught painting in Hashomer Hatzair seminars and served in the Palmach camouflage unit in the War of Independence. In 1952 he helped found the art institute at the Oranim seminary.

After disputes with movement leaders over art, he left the kibbutz in 1953 and opened a studio in Tel Aviv. He painted murals for ships, public buildings and hotels, and illustrated books. In 1962 he moved to Herzliya Pituah and kept a studio in Ein Hod. He died in 1976.