From Prisoner of Zion to Painter
Sylva Zalmanson's
Paintings Exhibition
10% of all sales will be donated to clubs for children with special needs
The 50 Plus Club, under the management of Ruhi Rosenblum, presents an exhibition of paintings by Sylva Zalmanson. Exhibition curator, Chava Nevo:
Sylva is a wonderful realist figurative artist who paints portraits of figures with great sensitivity reminiscent of Rembrandt's paintings. Her longing for freedom and liberation can be seen in the series of dancers who move freely. Many of her paintings have a special charm that captivates the eye.
The exhibition can be visited on the dates:
29.SEP.22-01.FEB.23
Sunday 19:30-22:00
Monday & Wednesday 8:00-12:30
Tuesday 16:00-22:00
Pais House, Elkana
Sylva Zalmanson's paintings can be interpreted as a symbolic expression of freedom. Today Sylva lives in Israel and was recently awarded a badge of honor in the Knesset and also in the Jerusalem Post's 2019 list of Russian-speaking Jews who shaped Israel in Zionism. 50 years ago she made headlines as a prisoner of Zion, whose courage, determination, defiance and unwavering honor, even while in captivity, made her a symbol of freedom and faith. Born in 1944, Sylva grew up in a Zionist family in Riga, Latvia, then part of the USSR. At the age of 25, in 1970, after being refused twice for permmission to leave the USSR, Sylva was arrested together with her then-new husband Edward Kuznetsov, her two brothers and 12 other Zionist activists, by the KGB, in an attempt to escape from the USSR, bound for Israel. The affair is also known as "The First Leningrad Trial" or "Operation Wedding"; a code name for a plan that was to take an empty plane and fly beyond the borders of the USSR. Young, fearless, and the only woman on trial, Sylva declared: "Even here, in the trial, I still believe that one day I will make it to Israel. Next year in Jerusalem!"
Sylva's sentence was 10 years in prison in a labor camp, but thanks to world pressure, and a secret exchange deal with a Soviet spy, Sylva was released after 4 years in prison and made Aliyah in 1974.
Sylva Zalmanson began painting in 1992 alongside her work as a mechanical engineer in the aerospace industry. In 1997, Sylva was accepted as a member of the Society of Painters and Sculptors. Zalmanson participated in many exhibitions in Israel and abroad; she presented about 35 solo exhibitions and many more group exhibitions in Israel and around the world. She participated in television programs, radio and was interviewed in the press. Sylva's works have been purchased for private collections in Israel, USA, Great Britain, France, Finland, Russia and Latvia. The artist and art critic Pesach Selvosky wrote about Sylva's paintings in the art magazine "Studio":
Rembrandt's special sensitivity to the figures and people he painted is an innate quality… In Israel, to the best of my knowledge, one can discover a similar, Rembrandt-like sensitivity in the artist Sylva Zalmanson.
Pictures from opening event, OCT 19th 2022