Founded in 1906, the house was the early twentieth century residence of Bezalel Academy of Arts and was to serve as the center of Jerusalem artists.

The gallery presents exhibitions by mainly Israeli artists (Tovah Bellman, Sharon Balaban, Uri Assaf, Pinchas Golan, Liat Polotsky, Menachem Selma, Hannah Goldberg (artist) and many others) and as well as international artists, changing monthly. The exhibitions promote young Israeli artists and often host retrospectives of more well-known artists. Since 2001, the National Biennale is hosted there.

Exhibition notes

I visited Jerusalem Artists House gallery (and lovely bistro!) 6th October, 2012. There are many rooms and sections of this gallery over three levels and outside, one will find numerous sculptures in a small garden around the building.  The building itself maintains the character expected of such an old building, with original windows and high ceilings (you can see in the photo, below, of a work by Maya Muchawski Parnas).

A work by Maya Muchawsky Parnas, at Jerusalem Artists House, West Jerusalem, 6 Oct 2012. Image courtesy Kelise Franclemont.
A work by Maya Muchawsky Parnas, at Jerusalem Artists House, West Jerusalem, 6 Oct 2012. Image courtesy Kelise Franclemont.

Other works on show included contemporary paintings, photography, collage, and 3-D works.

I quite liked this room with several large charcoal drawings and a few paintings (by unknown artist as the name tags were written in Hebrew):

Exhibition in Jerusalem Artists House, Jerusalem. Artist unknown (Hebrew writing). Image courtesy Kelise Franclemont.
Exhibition in Jerusalem Artists House, Jerusalem. Artist unknown (Hebrew writing). Image courtesy Kelise Franclemont.

The scratchy energy of these drawings is what first caught my attention, then what kept it was the depth of the image. All with lowly simple charcoal.

Another favourite was this room with a collection of about 20 or so smaller ink drawings on paper (approximately A4 size).  There were 4 or 5 tables displaying drawings, and others hung on the wall in groups of 2 or 3 drawings. Again, I don’t know the artist’s name as the name tags were mostly in Hebrew.

Exhibition in Jerusalem Artists House, Jerusalem. Artist unknown, ink on paper. Image courtesy Kelise Franclemont
Exhibition in Jerusalem Artists House, Jerusalem. Artist unknown, ink on paper. Image courtesy Kelise Franclemont

Slide show of my visit to:  Jerusalem Artists House, Jerusalem, 06 October

OR DIRECT URL LINK HERE:

https://plus.google.com/photos/116616783605038840082/albums/5869317751768707345

And on a final note, the Jerusalem Artists House has a LOVELY bistro on ground floor, serving delicious 2-3 course lunch and evening meals, with a nice wine list and fully-stocked bar.

More information

Exhibition details: Jerusalem Artists House galleries, Jerusalem, various artists, ongoing exhibitions. Accessed 06 October 2012.