Shlomo Meïr

1914-1979.

Born in Germany. Immigrated to Israel in 1936.

Shlomo Meir left Germany before World War II and settled in Kibbutz Dalia.

Far from the artistic epicenter of Tel Aviv, Shlomo worked like many other artists on the periphery, away from the spotlight and public awareness. That didn't stop Shlomo from developing a unique style, however. He studied art with Marcel Janco and Zvi Meirovich, whose influence is very evident in his work. Shlomo Meir studied sculpture with Dov Feigin and created many sculptures in stone and wood.

In the 1950s, Shlomo Meir's work underwent a process of abstraction, concurrent with the abstract revolution of the New Horizon group in Tel Aviv, although figurative elements are still recognizable in his work. Towards the end of his creative life, Shlomo's art became completely abstract and very colorful.

Unlike other kibbutz artists of his time, such as Yohanan Simon and Avraham Ofek, Shlomo Meir was not concerned with socialist realism. The focus of his paintings was nature, still life and animals.

Shlomos' work has decorated various spaces in and around his kibbutz, while he has, in fact, gained recognition abroad, exhibiting in various countries including London, Zurich and Stockholm.

Shlomo Meir left behind an impressive body of work - high-quality paintings and sculptures - which should rightly be among the works of the best artists in Eretz Israel. His talent was recognized by Galia Bar-Or of the Ein Harod Museum, who included him in the exhibition "The Dialectic of the 1950s: A Hegemony and a Plurality" - the first of six exhibitions, representing six decades of art Israel in six major exhibitions in 2008 – as part of Israel's 60th anniversary.