The Life and Form of Michael Gross
Born in Tiberias in the Mandatory Palestine, Michael Gross grew up in the farming village of Migdal. His early life was marked by a significant tragedy when, during his studies at the Teachers’ Training College in Jerusalem between 1939 and 1940, his father was murdered by Arabs and the family farm and home were destroyed. This event left a lasting impact on his work as an artist. Following this, he studied architecture at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa from 1943 to 1945, where he studied sculpture with Moshe Ziffer. His formal artistic training continued in Paris at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts from 1951 to 1954. Upon returning to Israel in 1954, he settled in the artists’ village of Ein Hod.
Artistic Style and Technique
The works of Michael Gross are characterized by a minimalist approach that remains tied to natural form and laden with feeling. In his early paintings, he focused on simplifying form to concentrate on proportion, broad areas of color, and the specific placement of elements. His reductive process extended to his sculptures, which were crafted from materials such as painted iron or white concrete. In his later paintings, Gross often juxtaposed large off-white panels with patches of tone, incorporating textured materials like burlap, rope, and wooden beams. His surfaces are often rough and freely-brushed, utilizing soft pastel coloring to conjure images of the Israeli landscape.
