Resting at Noon

The Bessarabian-born painter Nahum Gutman moved to Tel Aviv when he was seven. He studied at the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts and, in the 1920s, in Vienna, Berlin, and Paris. He returned to Mandate Palestine in 1926. His oils and watercolors often feature massive, highly stylized individuals. Though influenced by French expressionism, he saw himself as a rebel, turning his back on European traditions of painting and championing a style in harmony with the light and landscapes of Palestine.