The collections of the Lithuanian Art Museum were supplemented with a gift from the ambassador to Israel Amir Maimon – the artwork by the painter Zvi Shor

Arūnas Gelūnas, director of the Lithuanian Art Musem, said: “The Israeli ambassador’s gift to Lithuania is a meaningful contribution to the efforts of the Lithuanian and Israeli states to base themselves profoundly on culture and to foster it not only at the level of state cultural institutions, but also by setting an example of personal initiative. The painting, personally donated by the Israeli ambassador who is known in Lithuania for his active work and outstanding cultural ideas, shows how dear art can be to a person and a state, and how important it is to cherish it and to refer to it as a foundation of beauty and memory.”

Zvi Shor is known in Israel as an experienced master of landscape who was influenced by the Paris school, and who has immortalised the sights and people of Tel Aviv and Petah Tikva (a small town that has since become a suburb of Tel Aviv) in his art. He was also a bright person of culture, one of the initiators of the founding of Petach Tikva Museum of Art. When the museum opened, Zvi Shor sought to establish painting, sculpture and ceramics workshops there and took it upon himself to supervise the painting studio. The artworks donated by the artist and his family were a significant contribution to the museum’s emerging collection and encouraged others to follow this example.

Zvi Shor enjoyed painting from life in nature and recording sights that caught his eye, and would carry a small easel with him everywhere he went. In the oil painting “A View of Petah Tikva” (1967), the viewer is shown one of the intimate corners of the artist’s beloved town. It is brightly sunlit, surrounded by modestly sized old buildings and trees, which provide a refreshing shade from the hot sun. The landscape, painted in a free-flowing, impulsive, sketch-like manner, evokes a peaceful town and the feeling of hot, vibrant southern air.

The Petah Tikva museum has over 60 paintings by Zvi Shor. From now on, the Lithuanian Art Museum will also have an example of the creative work of one of the famous Israeli landscape masters to proudly show its visitors.