A talk with Yoram Ra’anan on artwork that can move minds, inspire new perspectives, and ignite souls

In November 2016, a fire destroyed a studio in Moshav Beit Meir, 15 minutes outside of Yerushalayim, and with it, 1,500 original paintings, 1,200 works on paper, and numerous sculptures. Yoram Ra’anan’s story is one of emunah and the unique combination of what is borne when passion and level-headedness coexist.

About nine years ago, I had the privilege of visiting Ra’anan’s studio, which was alive with greenery, animals, nature — a true creative’s dwelling. The studio was flooded with light and layered with artwork: large canvases, saturated with color and movement, as well as smaller pieces, moody and layered. I’d always been a follower of his work, but seeing the process changed the experience for me.

The Desire to Create

Yoram describes the desire to create as the need to express something that can’t be put into words. His work has inspired an entire generation of artists, which he uses to propel himself to create unique color schemes and techniques. It’s the indefinable combination of those factors that creates beautiful and mysterious experiences, where he is constantly reinventing the wheel. K’shmo kein hu — ra’anan means “ever fresh.”

Creating a piece requires constant experimentation and boundary pushing, where revealing new perspectives through different iterations and movements often yields the most memorable pieces. He recalls one scenario where the Sheraton Plaza in Jerusalem had commissioned a painting, which organically evolved into an abstract piece of eagle’s wings. As guests ventured through the halls of the hotel, they would study the painting, and ultimately, the consensus was that it was too abstract for their tastes; it was unquantifiable and hard to understand. Of course, hours of work had gone into the piece, and in Ra’anan’s discouraged state, he splashed paint and water over it with abandon, turning the canvas every which way, until horizontal became vertical. From the layers, a stately figure appeared, and then — another facial image. Before it dried, he stood the canvas up and let the paint spill out.

From that recalibration came a twist of fate: because he was fed up, he relinquished control, letting Hashem take over. The result was one of the most sought-after pieces of his career, “Esther Hamalkah.”