Jacob Gildor Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1948 -

Jacob Gildor (born in 1948) is an Israeli artist, representative of the Surrealist movement in Israeli art and of the group of "Second Generation" of Holocaust survivors artists. He is a professional art advisor and consultant at Montefiore Auction House, Tel Aviv and MacDougall's Fine Art Auctions, London. Gildor resides, works, and creates in Tel Aviv.

Jacob-Yosef Gildengorin was born in the German town of Feuchtwangen. His parents were Holocaust survivors who met after the war. Both were the sole survivors of their families. In 1948 the Gildengorin family immigrated to Israel after the birth of their first son, Jacob. They initially settled in Tel Aviv and later on moved to Holon. A year later, his brother, Michael, was born. The children were given a secular education and were raised in a house where work and education were of the highest priorities. The parents' horrific past no longer existed, and it was never discussed in the presence of the children. Nevertheless, in the daily routine there were many references to their being second generation Holocaust survivors.

The family moved to the center of Holon and later bought a café in Tel Aviv, "Café Atara". A few years later they invested in a café and bakery on Yefet Street in Jaffa which was considered at that time an area of crime, drugs, and prostitution. It was in this café that Jacob started his drawing and painting career.

In 1962, at the age of 14, Jaffa's colorful characters sitting in his father's café were his inspiration. Jacob completed his high school education at the age of 17 and had one year left before military enrollment. He applied to the Bezalel Academy of Art in Jerusalem and was accepted and placed in the second year. However, deciding to take a different route, Jacob chose to start law studies in Tel Aviv University. He continued his studies while serving as a combat paramedic in 669, the IDF's Airborne Rescue and Evacuation Unit. He finished his law studies at 1971 and worked as a lawyer for 14 years in "Ha'Sneh" company.

The turning point arrived at the age of 40 when he retired from his work and decided to devote his time to art. His first solo exhibition of paper work, drawings, and monotypes was held in 1968 in Bet Hachayal in Tel Aviv under the patronage of the IDF's Chief Education Officer.

In 1971 Gildor was invited by the Surrealist artist and teacher Prof. Ernst Fuchs, to Riechenau, a quiet Austrian town in the foothills of the Alps, to learn the master's unique technique in tempera. A close friendship was made between the teacher and student which opened the young artist to the Surrealist movement.

In 1987 Gildor spent a year in Cite des Arts in Paris under an Israeli scholarship.

Throughout the years Gildor exhibited in many galleries in Israel, Sweden, Germany and France.

In 2009, a major comprehensive retrospective exhibition, "Segments of Creation", with Gildor's works throughout four decades, was held in the Museum of Israeli Art in Ramat-Gan, curated by the Museum Director, Meir Aharonson. The exhibition was displayed for six months and accompanied by a three part complete monography.

Gildor is married to Hava Zeilingold. The couple has three sons: Guy (C.E.O. of Persway, a high tech company from Herzliya), Ofer (Gilden's Art Gallery in London) and Boaz (Ph.D in Biology, from Weizmann Institute of Science, in Rehovot).