Spirit lives on in the village

EIN HOD, Israel — The Ein Hod Artists’ Village is nestled in the foothills of northern Israel, where the Mediterranean Sea lies in the distance and stone houses that blend into nature are hidden among the trees.

Established by Jewish artist Marcel Janco, known as the father of Israeli art, the studio retreat is a utopia for emerging artists.

Janco himself lived and worked in the village. In the 1920s to the 1930s, he was active in Romania at the forefront of Dadaism, an art movement that challenged the existing order and rules of convention, but moved to Israel (then Mandatory Palestine under Britain) in 1941.

At the time, Nazi Germany was spreading anti-Semitism in Europe, and Janco’s work had become a target of discrimination.

After the murder of a family member, Janco sought safe refuge in his roots. It is said that to ensure smooth immigration procedures, he bribed British soldiers with nude pictures.

Having moved to a new land, Janco changed his style as if to mark the dawn of a new historical era. With the artist living closer to the clear Mediterranean Sea, the colors in his paintings grew brighter.

His drawings of Jewish people suffering from poverty and soldiers injured in war also became more graphic.

Moving away from Europe, the center of the art world, hurt Janco’s career. Raza Zommer-Tal, the 56-year-old director of the Janco Dada Museum in Ein Hod, points out, “Janco is underrated compared to Jewish artists who continued painting in Europe.”