Identity and Place in the Art of Tuvia Katz

The art of Argentinian-born Israeli artist Tuvia Katz (b. 1936) reveals the different stages of his life, all of which are entwined in his search for Jewish identity. These stages include stylistic, iconographic, and iconological aspects. Katz is one of the most senior newly religious artists in Israel, who have established a distinctive, novel set of images that reflect the experience of becoming religious as a fundamental and profound change in their lives, lifestyles, and identities. Katz’s art sheds light on the phenomenon of ḥazarah be-teshuvah in Israel in general and among artists in particular, which has grown in the past three decades.