Early Life and Education
Arie Aroch was born in 1908 in Kharkiv, which was then part of the Russian Empire and is now part of Ukraine. His birth name was Lyova Nisselvich. During his childhood, he drew frequently, making charcoal drawings by the age of six. In 1924, he made aliyah to Palestine with his parents and sister.
His formal art education included studies at Bezalel between 1925 and 1926, where he studied under Shmuel Ben David, Aaron Shaul Schur, and Jacob Eisenberg. He also studied under Yitzhak Frenkel at the Histadrut art studio. In 1929–1930, he studied architecture at the Technion. Later, in 1934, he went to Paris and studied at the Académie Colarossi, participating in lessons given by Fernand Léger.
Artistic Career and Achievements
Aroch's work featured a mixture of Pop Art and abstract art. His painting style included unstructured scribbling, drawing, engravings, and erasures. During his time in Paris, his style was influenced by the Paris School, including artists such as Chaïm S_outine, Marc Chagall, Isaac Frenkel, and Mané-Katz. In Amsterdam, his work showed the influence of Vincent van Gogh.
Aroch served as the Israeli ambassador to Brazil, Venezuela, and Sweden. He held the position of Director of Cultural Affairs in the Foreign Ministry until 1971. His awards include:
- The Meir Dizengoff Prize for a Young Artist
- The Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture from the Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo (1942)
- The Tel Aviv Museum's Dizengoff Prize (1955)
- The Sandberg Prize for Israel Art from the Israel Museum (1968)
- The Israel Prize in Painting (1971)
