Closure

My great-grandfather, Menachem Ben-Ari, died in 1967. I didn't get to know him, but I learned that he was a talented artist and painter. The artistic talent runs in the family - my grandfather Avi Ben-Ari is a painter and I also really like to create art. Two weeks before my great-grandfather died, he sent paintings to Vienna, Austria, as he intended to display them in an exhibition there. He passed away unexpectedly and the paintings disappeared! For years, my grandfather continued to believe that they would be found one day. When I was eleven my grandfather gave me a black and white photograph of one of the paintings that disappeared, "The Mandolin Player." It was his favorite painting and he hoped that I would be able to reproduce it from the blurry photograph that remained. Another year passed and it happened that my parents received a surprising call that the paintings were in Vienna and the family was invited to take them as a gift! The generous donor was the grandson of Menachem's partner, who did not know that we had been looking for the paintings all these years. After fifty-five years of yearning, with logistical efforts and family involvement, my grandfather brought thirty-five of the lost paintings to Israel. In my work, I chose to present two of the lost paintings by my great-grandfather Menachem and provide them with my interpretation. While he had painted them in oil on canvas, I chose to create them digitally honoring the original paintings through my own personal style. Next to the paintings, I chose to show a timeline emphasizing how long was my grandfather longing for his father and the lost paintings. It took a lifetime but I'm glad that my grandfather was able to get back something of his father. I was able to bring closure to four generations of our family. This work is dedicated to the memory of Menachem Ben-Ari.