Alexandre Frenel, born Isaac Frenkel in Odessa in 1899 and died in Tel Aviv in 1981, is a Franco-Israeli-Ukrainian painter of the 20th century. The artist brings a new breath of fresh air to Israel, mixing the influence of the School of Paris with art dominated by orientalism.
Frenel studied at the Odessa Academy of Art until 1917 in the studio of the painter Alexandra Ekster. In 1919 he emigrated to Palestine on the famous ship Ruslan with the first pioneers of the Third Alia, and visited the city of Safed for the first time, where he built his house in 1934.
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In 1920 he established the Hatomer art cooperative in Jaffa and a studio in the Herzliya gymnasium, where evening classes in painting and sculpture were given. He participated in the first art exhibition in Mandatory Palestine, exhibiting his abstract paintings.
In the late 1920s, he traveled to Egypt and then went to Paris, where he took classes at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, with Matisse and Bourdelle. In 1924, the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian acquired two of his works.
Frenel returned to Mandatory Palestine in 1925 and founded two art studios there, Masad and Eged, as well as the Histadrut painting studio in Tel Aviv, which was influenced by Parisian art. There he taught notable students, including Shimshon Holtzman and Avigdor Stemastky.
In 1926 he exhibited abstract and naturalistic works, while incorporating expressionist elements into his style. In 1929 he returned to Paris, where his expressionist style was affirmed.
In 1934 he opened a new studio in Tel Aviv and settled in Safed, contributing to the sets of the Adloyada carnival and the I'Haohel theater until 1949, also making portraits of famous actors.
Between 1934 and 1948, he received several Dizengoff Prizes and documented significant events in Israeli history, such as the first meeting of the Knesset. In 1949, he founded an artists' colony in Safed, which became an art academy.
Frenel was the first Israeli painter to represent his country at the Venice Biennale. In 1952, back in Paris, he created windows for Baroness Alix de Rothschild and was recognized among the Jewish artists of the School of Paris.
Between 1960 and 1981, he exhibited internationally, living in Paris while using his house in Safed as a summer residence. In 1972, his house became the Frenkel Frenel Museum. He died in 1981 in Tel Aviv and is buried in Safed.
