Artists

Jacob Gildor – Short Biography

Jacob Gildor (Hebrew: יעקב גילדור; born 1948) is an Israeli Surrealist artist and a prominent figure among the “Second Generation” of Holocaust survivors in Israeli art. He serves as an art advisor at Montefiore Auction House (Tel Aviv) and MacDougall’s Fine Art Auctions (London).

Born in Feuchtwangen, Germany, to Holocaust survivors, Gildor immigrated with his family to Israel in 1948. Raised in Holon, he began painting at a young age, inspired by the people in his family’s Jaffa café.

Though accepted to Bezalel Academy, he chose to study law at Tel Aviv University and served as a combat paramedic in the IDF. After 14 years as a lawyer, he shifted to art full-time at age 40.

In 1971, he studied under Surrealist master Ernst Fuchs in Austria and later received a scholarship to Cité des Arts in Paris. Gildor has exhibited widely in Israel and Europe. His 2009 retrospective Segments of Creation was held at the Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan.

In 1980, he co-founded the “Meshushe” (Hexagon) Group to promote Surrealism in Israel. From the 1990s onward, his work increasingly reflected his Second Generation identity and Holocaust legacy.