The popular and respected Israeli-French painter, Fima (b. Ephraim Roeytenberg), died this week at the age of 91.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFfima 88(photo credit: )
The popular and respected Israeli-French painter, Fima (b. Ephraim Roeytenberg), died this week at the age of 91.
Born and educated in Harbin, China, Fima came to Israel in 1949, and after several years of professional and personal struggle resettled in Paris in the late 1950s. Moving between the Middle East and Europe, he never lost his relationship with Israel, exhibiting often in local galleries. In 2003 he returned permanently to Jerusalem, where he worked until his final days.
Influenced by his 35 years in Harbin, Fima's paintings, after years of battling with alternative styles, became a synthesis of Eastern and Western artistic traditions.
A supreme colorist, his work shines with a full spectrum, from vivid vermilions and pinks to the coolest of blues and turquoise, all highlighting his abstract calligraphic strokes - symbolic gestures very much in the Chinese tradition.
Fima is survived by his wife Kaarina and daughter Annina
