Dan Livni, a Haifa artist who instills his love for art and people, for future generations

"The most beautiful city in Israel"

"Haifa is the most beautiful city in the country," says Dan Livni, a long-time and privileged craftsman, who has been living in Haifa for 55 years. "I grew up in a kibbutz. I studied in Jerusalem, I founded an art course in Be'er Sheva, but my wife Ora and I were looking for a unique place, where the natural and human landscape would be visible to us. We both understood that only Haifa - it is the place." He says.

"We arrived in Haifa 55 years ago, and the place, as they say, we fell in love with it: the forests, the sea, the landscapes, and above all - the people filled us with joy."

"My dear and wise students"

"I started painting in Carmel, in the forest, in the neighborhoods... and in my educational work, I found openness on the part of the administrators of the Urban High School, and above all, I got to know my dear, smart students, full of the desire to create, who became attached to me and I became attached to them. Later, I got to know many more wonderful people in Haifa, such as the poet Michael Kashtan, Shevah Weiss, Jacob Kaplan, Natanzon and many more. I found good friends in the city."

A favorite of Haifa's mayors for generations

Over the years, many mayors of Haifa, became enthusiastic and purchased his impressive works concerning the city, and gave them as gifts to important people who visited it, Maria Gural, Derech Mitzna and Yona Yahav, and now also Dr. Einat Kalish, who recently presented one of his works to the Minister of Defense Benny Gantz, when he visited Haifa.
Ezer Weizman, Shimon Peres and many others received his works as well, over the years.

Dan Livni Born in 1936, the son of pioneer parents, members of the "Hogi" group, who lived in a tent camp in Ra'anana. The group settled in 1937 and founded Kibbutz 'Maoz Haim' within the settlements of Chuma and Migdal in the Beit Shan Valley. He spent his school years in a kibbutz, where studies and work on the farm were combined. After his military service he studied at the "Bezalel" Academy of Arts and the teacher training department. Over the years he continued his art studies at renowned art academy institutions throughout Europe.

A warrior and commander

He did his military service as an officer in a patrol company in the Givati ​​Brigade and participated in the Kadesh War in 1956.
In the reserves, he served as a colonel in the Harel Brigade during the Six Day War, in the liberation of Jerusalem in 1967 and in the War of Attrition. At an older age he served as an education officer in the Northern Command and participated in the Yom Kippur War and the First Lebanon War.

"I feel that I have fulfilled my duty and contributed my part to the defense of the country" says Livni.
In addition to these duties, he also contributed his skills as an artist to the commemoration of warriors and events on the battlefield. Hundreds of recorded war drawings are in the literature, in exhibitions at white handicrafts houses and in IDF museums, such as the Ammunition Hill Museum in Jerusalem and the Armory Museum in Latron. He painted many murals in IDF camps, clubs and shelters, with the help of soldiers and his art students. The wounded of the IDF and the families of the victims, received from him lithographs and sketchbooks of his work - as a memory.

Dan Livni:

As a soldier and an artist, I always had a notebook with me, where I uploaded drawings from the field, from the daily life of IDF soldiers and from the events of the war, says Livni, "Many of my drawings appeared in the press and IDF publications and also in Israeli war literature. Lithographs of my work were distributed to wounded soldiers and families of IDF casualties "To. I also designed stages and brochures for events in the army, such as Golani, Harel and the Armored Brigades.

Creative art and education integrated into each other

"My profession consists of art, creation, and education and teaching, which are integrated into each other, for more than sixty years," Livni says. Even as a student he taught art in schools and classes, and found interest and satisfaction in teaching. He founded, as mentioned, the art and graphics major at the high school in Be'er Sheva, and from 1965, when he moved with his family to Haifa, he founded the art track for matriculation at the XNUMXth City High School, until his retirement.

Livni always integrated in his educational work topical and social issues concerning the community, the environment, the landscape and nature. His students were important to him and he always encouraged them to contribute to society, through making murals in community institutions, etc. At the same time, he also taught at the 'Gordon' Academy of Education in Haifa, in art classes and training courses. Today he curates exhibitions and guides artists in his studio in Haifa.

Dan For my son:

I remember myself always drawing. Ever since my childhood, I would create and contribute to Kibbutz placards, murals and design the stages at events.

"Nature, Imagination and Fantasy"

"I have always started my work from the sources of nature, the landscape, combined with imagination and fantasy," he says, "my work has undergone changes over the years, under the influence of the events, the environment and the new landscapes I discovered in distant countries."

His work includes various techniques, from drawing, watercolor, woodblock prints, silkscreen and monoprint, as well as oil and acrylic works. He also specialized in wall design and segrapito reliefs. Examples of his works (among many) are - an acrylic painting he made in collaboration with the students of the Urban High School of God, measuring about 100 square meters, in the school yard, and the largest segrapito relief in the country, in a five-story building in Tel Aviv.

Many exhibitions and awards

His works have been presented in dozens of solo exhibitions in Israel and around the world and he has won many awards such as: Lifetime Achievement Award in Art Education named after P. Schiff, and the Herman Struk Award from the Municipality of Haifa and more..

He lives, as mentioned, in Haifa, with his family and his wife Ora, "who has played an important part in the public and organizational activities of my artistic work for 58 years" he emphasizes.
His studio is also in his house.

Art education

During 62 years of art education, he raised many generations, who studied art and found a personal way to express themselves creatively in the various fields of art. His students learned to observe, understand, feel and perform. Many of them achieved far-reaching achievements in the field of artistic creation and became well-known artists there in Israel and in the world. "I am proud that I was able to bring them closer to the world of art and help them express themselves through it," Livni says. From the hundreds of letters of thanks and appreciation he kept, Livni pulls out a letter he received from one of the graduates of the art course he taught in Haifa:

From a letter Livni received from an art student he taught:

Danny, it's just important to me that you know that you are among the most important people I've ever met in my life, with advice at the right moments, a supporting hand, tools to move on and a head that really understands the craziness that runs through my mind. Your support gave me a lot of motivation to create and invest in art. When I grow up, I hope I will stand up to this difficult task and fulfill a dream that you helped me build thanks to your trust in me. And you, who don't dare to change and stay young forever and make many more children like me smile and create, I love you, R. (The name is saved in the system)

An international breeze

Many of Livni's paintings were printed in the press, articles, brochures and books. Recently, in 2019, a book was published about surrealist painters in Israel, by Dr. Alec Epstein, in which he wrote about his work
in the field of surrealism and fantastic realism, and many of his works are displayed there.
Without a doubt, Livni brought to many in Haifa, Israel and abroad, a breath of fresh air from the great world, through paintings with deep meaning and expression.

The book "First Years"

This year, together with his wife Ora, he published the book "first years" Depicting in illustration and story the events of the 1940s and 1950s in Kibbutz Maoz Haim.

Haifa author and psychologist Tamar Machlin wrote about the book:

I was fascinated by the fresh and warm experience that the book "First Years" brings to the reader. Dan describes in a flowing, fresh and humorous way, the events of those days and brings to life the experiences, places and events that constitute a significant chapter in the history of the renewed Land of Israel. It touches on the vibrant social fabric of farm life, the geographical and environmental conditions and their place in the history of those days. From his personal memories, he invites us to be moved and enter into that period, into the fervor of belief and action of that time, just before they are forgotten. Dan Livni presents the reader with a taste of moments that make us feel affection, smile and longing.

A more moral and cultural society

From his many years of educational activity, with youth and young people, he has a clear conclusion: there is room to give art and creative studies an important place in the educational system in Israel, in order to create a more valuable and cultural society. "Unfortunately, we see, even today, youth who sometimes have no values, are directionless and deteriorate into difficult places. Youth who are severely harmed and also harm their environment. On the other hand, I am happy and proud to see the youth that I spent years teaching in high school and Gordon College, who become A leader in Israeli society and projects values ​​to his environment. I have great satisfaction in my educational work where I can contribute and be contributed to," he says.

It is evident that Livni has many more plans, ideas and sincere joy towards his work and he plans to continue his activity as a creative artist, to paint more and more and, like them, to add artists who come every week to paint to his studio guides.

Painting as a creative process

"Painting is a sort of process of creation, in which something is created from nothing and stems from my inner essence, which consists of the spiritual world, life experience, the knowledge accumulated in my mind, the sights I have seen and the insights I have reached during my life," he shares, "and of course, the creation also stems from my ability and pleasure to deal with the creative materials".

"I wouldn't change a thing"

When Livni was asked if he would have changed anything during his life, he answered:
"Today, from the height of my age, it seems to me that I wouldn't have changed a thing. Each step and each event made their special contribution to my development as a person, as a creator, and as a teacher who loves his students and his students love him.
Fortunately, I also had a supportive and loving family and a wife who stands by my side the whole way, and many friends and people who appreciate and love my paintings and my work," he concludes.