Michael Argov

Signature Sample

Michael Argov (Singer), Israeli, born in Austria, 1982-1920.

Michael Argov was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1920. The family traded in jewelry and was wealthy and had a Zionist consciousness. In 1929, the family emigrated to Berlin, Germany, and later to Geneva, Switzerland. In 1933, the family immigrated to Palestine and settled in Haifa. He was a member of the Alumot group and one of the founders of Kibbutz Hamadia. From 1936, Argov was a member of the Haganah and was active in the “Aliyah B.” Variety such as goldsmithing and teaching painting in several schools and studied art in Aharon Avni’s studio. With the establishment of the “studio” of Streichman and Stamatsky, he moved to study there. During the War of Independence, he returned to Israel with a unit of fighters who had been drafted in France and sent to fight in the Negev, then served as an intelligence officer in the navy. In some of the exhibitions, the “Ten +” group and also began to engage in photography, in parallel with the pursuit of the medium of painting. Between the years 1980-1977 he served as chairman of the committee of the Association of Painters and Sculptors.

Until the mid-1950s, Argov’s work was figurative in nature. Alongside portraits and depictions of interiors a lot also paint in the open space. His works have been influenced by modernist art, in terms of the use of color and the organization of composition. In many of his works he used contours and color surfaces. After this period a trend of abstraction began in his work, giving up the contours. In the 1960s, under the influence of French informal, his work became abstract. In the late 1960s he adopted an abstract-geometric style, using a combination of additional materials such as corrugated cardboard or plastic, which made his work a relief.

Studies
1944 The Histadrut’s painting and sculpture studio, Tel Aviv
1947-1945 The studio, Tel Aviv
1950-1947 National High School of Fine Arts, Bouzard, Paris, France

Awards
1952 First Prize, Deauville Exhibition, Deauville, France
1953 Second Prize, Exhibition of Israeli Painters on the Occasion of Five Years of Israeli Independence, Embassy of Israel, Paris, France
1955 Otton Fries Prize, Paris, France

page originated from The Israel Museum at https://museum.imj.org.il/artcenter/newsite/en/?artist=Argov,%20Michael&list=A