Baruch Nachshon lives with his family near Hebron, the ancient city set amidst the Judean hills and desert where King David composed most of his psalms and Adam and Eve are reputedly buried. Nachshon's studio is near the hallowed Cave of Machpelah.

One of the most important contemporary Jewish artists, he studied art with Solomon Naroni, Paul Cezanne's only student, whom he still considers his "master", and from whom he learned "a holy approach to art." He became attracted to the vibrant world of Chassidism in his teens. Both the bittersweet music and the exalted mystical concepts of its Kabbalah- based philosophy burned deep into his searching soul.

His searing expressions of a man committed to his people's heritage and Israel's struggle to survive are rooted in a profoundly felt reality.

Nachshon's position as one of Israel's foremost artists was recognized when he received the Distinguished Artist's Award from Bar Ilan University in 1989. His paintings, ablaze with a visionary sensibility, have been exhibited around the globe, in the U.S., Canada, Brazil and Argentina, Australia, England and Hong Kong.

Nachshon's canvases express a yearning for fulfillment and redemption in the spirit of Judaism's ancient traditions. "The Jewish past has been well-represented in art," says Nachshon. "so has the present. But no one has represented the future—the Messianic Age." This is the task he has undertaken. His images, colors and shapes communicate a spiritual dimension: they are permeated with light and celebration.