Mordechai Ardon Sold at Auction Prices

Painter, b. 1896 - d. 1992

(b 1896 Tuchow, Poland; d 1992) A watchmaker's son from Tuchow, Poland, Ardon was the eldest of the 12 children of Alexander and Elisheva Bronstein. A devout Jew and a master craftsman, Alexander Bronstein intended for his son to follow in his footsteps. Ardon dreamed of becoming an artist and enrolled at the Weimar Bauhaus school, where he studied under Paul Klee, Johannes Itten, Lyonel Feininger and Wassily Kandinsky. Involved with a left wing group, Ardon was forced to flee Germany as early as 1933, when he travelled to Israel. Ardon’s style was uniquely influenced both by his Modernist education and by his interest in the Old Masters, particularly El Greco and Rembrandt. He studied the techniques of the Old Master’s at the Munich Academy and his paintings combine their rich use of color with Modern Expressionism and Abstraction. He is considered amongst Israel’s greatest artists and one of his most famous works is the set of stained-glass windows he created for the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem.