Raphael Abecassis Gallery Safed

{{Infobox
|title = Raphael Abecassis Gallery
|image        = [[File:Space holder.jpg|215px|alt=Raphael Abecassis Gallery]]
|header1 = Hebrew:
|data2  = גלריה רפאל אבקסיס
|header3 = Pronunciation:
|data4  = Raf-fa-el Ab’ka-ss-is
|header5 = Other Names:
|data6   = Tzfat Sephardic Art
|header7 = Description:
|data8   = Tzfat gallery with Jewish and Sephardic motifs.}}

One of [[Galleries-and-Artists-of-Safed|Tzfat’s artists]], Raphael Abecassis, incorporates his Sepharadi heritage with a celebration of bold colors and hues to create vibrant Jewish-themed paintings and other Judaica art.

== Background ==
Raphael Abecassis was born in Morocco and immigrated to Israel with his family as a child. He studied art in Beersheba at the College of Education and has been painting and exhibiting in Israel and throughout the world ever since. Abecassis incorporates his religious background and beliefs in his Jewish-themed art. Abecassis maintains a vacation home in the [[Artists Quarter Safed|Artists Quarter of Tzfat]] and exhibits in the [[Old City Safed|Old Jewish Quarter]].

== New Generation ==
Abecassis is viewed as a leader of Israel’s new generation of artists. His unique style combines Sephardic motifs, Jewish symbols and modern compositions into a harmonized bold spectacle of colors, shapes, forms and lines.

=== Themes ===
Abecassis creates abstract paintings that are centered on Jewish themes. Many of his works are painted as part of a series which are dedicated to a central subject. One of his largest exhibits was his 1992 “Odyssey of Spanish Jews” exhibit which he created to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Jews’ expulsion from Spain. Another collection, “Jerusalem 3000” contains 25 paintings which Abecassis painted to celebrate Jerusalem’s 3000th anniversary in 1996. His 1999 exhibit, “Place and Time” brings together a group of paintings which were inspired by characters in the Bible and the Biblical narratives in which they feature.

Other Jewish-themed paintings include “Woman of Valor,” “Pursuit of Justice,” “Menorah,” “Jewish Blessing of the House,” and “Challah Bread Cover.”

=== Style ===
Abecassis’s paintings combine colors and forms with symbols of Jewish traditions. He synthesizes the natural with the supernatural, the modern with the traditional and the mystical with the decorative. He varies his compositions and integrates calligraphies to harmonize the settings.

=== Medium ===
Abecassis works with a variety of media including oil paintings, ceramics, embroidery, silver, stained glass windows and serigraphs.

== Exhibitions ==
Abecassis exhibits his printings throughout the world. His works are displayed in private galleries in Israel, America, Canada and Europe. He maintains a permanent exhibition in the [[Fig Tree Gallery Safed|Fig Tree]] - [[Sarahs-Tent-Gallery-Safed|Sarah’s Tent Gallery]] on [[Art Street Safed|Alkabetz Street]] in [[Safed|Tzfat]].

[[Category:Safed]]
[[Category:Jewish Art]]