Aaron April’s oil and acrylic paintings underwent a profound transformation following his emigration to Israel in 1972. While his earlier Soviet works included powerful realist pieces like “Execution” (1961), which bravely confronted the realities of the Soviet Gulag and established him as a courageous painter, his later “Israeli” period exploded with multicolored, energetic, and passionate canvases.
A central tenet of his artistic vision in Israel was his intense engagement with light, particularly the unique and often “cruel” light of Jerusalem. April famously declared his goal was to “win this contest with the light,” tirelessly striving to capture or embody this elusive illumination within his canvases. His palette from this era is described as vigorous and comprehensive, capable of conveying a “violence of color” where hues seemingly “fight each other or embrace each other,” utterly captivating the viewer.
April’s oil paintings are often multi-meaningful, multifaceted, and fantastical, actively inviting the viewer to discover layers of interpretation. His style frequently blends figurative and abstract elements, with images often emerging from seemingly chaotic or pulsating colorful strokes. A key concept in his later work is the use of “memory stains”—brush strokes that function as self-contained vessels of light and space, mirroring the fragmented nature of memory. He reinterpreted Symbolism, emphasizing that meaning arises from the interplay of these material “signifiers” rather than from pre-existing metaphysical ideas. His canvases also aimed to combine the static aspects of painting with dynamic movement, offering the viewer a unique sense of “being” within a flowing, concentrated moment in time. Biblical themes are notably prominent, viewed not merely as historical stories but as part of the “very fabric of today’s life” and deeply connected to ancestral memory in Jerusalem, which he considered his spiritual motherland.
Aaron April’s art frequently turned to the world around him, depicting everyday life in both his early Soviet years and his transformative Israeli period. These works often fall into a category of “quite realistic or relatively realistic works with understandable plot,” offering viewers a recognizable window into human experience.
In his Israeli period, April painted intimate “scenes of life,” such as “The Family,” “Expecting the Heir,” and “A House in Jerusalem.” His watercolor “Eve of Sabbath. Congregating at the Wailing Wall” (1993) stands out for its “amazing precision” in rendering both architectural details and numerous tiny figures, showcasing his meticulous eye for detail even amidst a bustling scene.
Looking back to his early days in the Soviet Union, April’s art was often described as “realist pictures.” He tackled subjects common to the “shestidesiatniks” (artists of the 1960s), including pieces like “In the New Lands,” “A Tractor Driver Having a Meal,” and “Fishermen of Narym.” Early Siberian landscapes, such as “‘After Work’ 1958-60,” “‘In the Tomsk Region’, 1959” (which had a “big resonance”), “‘Here We Shall Live’ 1961,” “Outskirts of the Village” (1958), and “Houses on the Tom River,” also hinted at human presence and activity despite their primary focus on nature.
While these early works embraced realism, Matti Fischer suggests April employed “subtle irony to realize a subjective mode” in his Siberian landscapes, implying they were never a purely straightforward imitation of reality. This early period was often associated with the “severe style” or “austere style” of the time, marked by a more muted palette. April himself recalled being told he painted only with “umber,” describing the earth in his early work as “gray-umber,” a stark contrast to the brilliant colors that would later define his Israeli art.
The year 1972 marked a “sharp turn” in April’s life and artistic trajectory with his move from the Soviet Union to Israel. He effectively had to “start… from zero” artistically. While he brought his strong professional training from the Surikov school, the intense Israeli light profoundly influenced his palette and approach. This dramatic shift led to the vibrant, expressive, and “unchained” colors seen in his later works, including those capturing the nuances of everyday life in his new homeland.
