David Cohen has always painted. Since his early childhood his home was always filled with paintings of his father, an artist who died at a young age. During his schooldays he was asked to paint by his teachers for the school, and continuously carried on painting throughout his childhood.

David's formal art education began when he studied Art at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem.

In the early seventies, David was invited by the late Abram Games, a renowned British graphic designer, artist and art lecturer to come to London and personally study under his auspices various art techniques. He studied in London for three years and during his stay also studied Fine Art and Sculpture at the Sir John Cass School of Art.

Following his return to Israel, David worked as a graphic designer in large companies and was an art teacher; he has painted professionally for the last seven years.

He was always influenced by the classic Renaissance Masters: Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci…. During his studies in London he would sit in the National Gallery studying and sketching the drawing of da Vinci's, "Virgin and Child". In a recent visit to Rome and Florence he studied the Renaissance artwork in the Vatican and in the museums in Rome and Florence in greater depth.

David's art technique, which he developed during his studies in London, is to quickly and accurately draw the subject on site, prior to painting in oils, in the studio. The colors used depict the strong, vivid and bright colors of the Israeli sunshine and light, creating a strong contrast, with a preference for working with oils due to the texture that they create in the painting.

He paints figurative landscape and cityscape paintings, and in particular those of the enchanting scenes of Jerusalem, the town of his boyhood. The landscapes of Jerusalem, with the unique Jerusalem stone, provide a personal record of the history of the city as he lived through it, the neighborhoods, people and their everyday lives. His work underlines the way in which the sacred interacts with the secular, the traditional with the modern. Traditional well-known, sites are updated to their everyday relationship with modern Israeli life, making the work relevant, current and touching. In addition he paints different locations in Israel, the landscapes of the greener north - a forest in the north and the birds over a nature reserve, the ancient town of Safed, with its winding alleyways and religious population. The diversity of these paintings creates a rich and interesting mosaic that depicts the intimate bond between art and the Land of Israel.

His paintings transmit his personal feelings towards the places and times throughout his life and the places and cities he has visited in his travels.

Following a visit to Morocco, the country of his birth, he was inspired by the exotic landscapes and interesting faces of the country that had such a special meaning for him. David has painted a series of works of Morocco, inspired by the people, the culture and the sight of old men in djellabas, donkeys laden with firewood, the nomad women dressed in their traditional garments and their big-eyed children; the picturesque old Kasbahs, the clusters of rough adobe mountain dwellings tumbling down rocky hillsides, dark, mysterious souks and the bustling street scenes of the restored "world-heritage" cities.

There are paintings depicting scenes throughout the artist's travels ranging from a bullfight in Andalucía in Southern Spain, an ancient church in Gerona in Northern Spain, to the classic scenes of Prague to the English countryside.

David Cohen's paintings have been sold to various private collections and institutions in Israel and abroad.

Artist Highlights

• Lives In:    Israel
• ArtWanted.com Gallery:    Fine Art
• Proficient Software:   Photoshop
• Past Clients:    Israeli galleries, private clients in England and the United States