Portrait of the Artist As a Middle-Aged
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The 78 AS WATER REFLECTS A FACE 82 SHUL WITH A VIEW 86 CACHE OF THE DAY A Potpourri of Encounters and Impressions KY S OV On Site T L ha R I E M O T O ph It wasn’t even his own painting, but it was enough Portrait of to set on fire the soul of Eli Fruchter, a Brooklyn the Artist as a businessman who discovered art was in his Middle-Aged Man blood all along 6 Teves 5773 | December 19, 2012 MISHPACHA 71 On Site › Brocha Miller › PHOTOS MEIR HALTOVSKY Eli grew up in Jerusalem’s bustling Batei Ungarin neighborhood, close to his cousins and grandparents. He would play in the streets for hours, darting between the doorways and under the laundry lines strung Is inspiration and blossoming of talent across the road. Young Eli’s favorite reserved only for the young? Does haunt was the Meah Shearim shuk. there come a point in life when it is too Attracted by the variety of sights, late to tap into latent creativity? sounds, and smells, he spent hours For years, Eli Fruchter observed artists at roaming through the marketplace their craft, collected precious paintings, and and soaking in the scene. befriended the great Jewish masters of his gen- When Eli was 11 years old, his father eration. It was only after years of watching and accepted a job offer in Brooklyn and waiting that Eli finally picked up a brush of his the family moved to Crown Heights. own. When he did, the strokes flourished into The adjustment to life in America was skilled artistry; art became both a consuming difficult, but he came from a family of and fruitful passion. Vizhnitzer chassidim and he was able to Growing up in Yerushalayim in the 1960s gave connect to the fervent ardor of Chassi- Eli his first taste for vibrant colors and luminous dus even on American soil. Eli attended sunlight, as well as a lifelong love for the holy city. the Bobover cheder, and he also came “I’m a Yerushalmi,” he says proudly, “not an Is- HE WOULD PLAY IN THE into contact with Lubavitch; he used to raeli. There is a difference.” go to bed with a transistor radio tuned He does not explain what that difference is to the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s farbrengens, in words, preferring instead to let his paintings STREETS FOR HOURS, soaking up the Rebbe’s divrei Torah and speak for him. chizuk until late into the night. DARTING BETWEEN After yeshivah, Eli taught elemen- tary school English in the Vizhnitzer THE DOORWAYS AND cheder in Williamsburg. Self-educated and self-motivated, Eli was responsible for teaching classes and coordinating UNDER THE LAUNDRY the curriculum for the entire English department. LINES STRUNG ACROSS When his close friend became en- gaged to a girl from Montreal, Eli trav- THE ROAD. YOUNG ELI’S eled to Canada for the wedding. With the intensity and enthusiasm of a true FAVORITE HAUNT WAS THE Yerushalmi, Eli danced his heart out at his good friend’s simchah. His joyful celebration made an impression on the MEAH ShEARIM SHUK kallah and she immediately suggested 72 MISHPACHA 6 Teves 5773 | December 19, 2012 MISHPACHA 73 On Site “BEFORE HE WOULD BUY A PAINTING, ELI WOULD SPEND MONEY ON APPEASING ME,” REFERRING TO THE GIFT OF A PIECE OF JEWELRY THAT WOULD HERALD THE ARRIVAL OF A NEW WORK OF ART American expressionist painter who is best known for his intense cityscapes, Gaon is also the founder of the Street a shidduch for Eli with her Canadian friend, Faigy Wein- Painters, a group of New York artists berger. The young couple met and were married shortly who paint directly from city life. afterwards. They settled in Boro Park, where Eli worked Responding to the passion in Eli’s in real estate to support their growing family. It was at Seagate that Eli gave full voice, Simon invited Eli to visit him in At the beginning of their marriage, the Fruchters attend- expression to his hobby, acquiring his studio. “Why aren’t you painting?” ed a sheva brachos in a shul on Ocean Parkway. Hanging more and more art. His collection he questioned Eli. in the hall was a small exhibit of paintings that included included works from well-known It took five years for Simon’s question the work of Zvi Raphaeli, an Israeli impressionist artist. Jewish artists, such as Lithuanian to be answered. Eli’s father had passed Eli found himself drawn to one painting in particular — an painter and sculptor Arbit Blatas, away and he sought a way to fill the gap oil on canvas depiction of a wedding in Tzfas. While gazing Israeli painter Shaul Viktor, chas- in his life. He went to see Simon Gaon, at the painting and admiring the short brush strokes and sidic artist Zalman Kleinman, and and the artist once again encouraged pure colors that captured the transient afternoon light, Eli others. Acquiring paintings became Eli to set up his own studio. “I had no felt something stir within him. He wanted to acquire this a personal gain for Eli as well, since skills or technique,” Eli remembers. “But work of art, to possess it, and not just glance at it and move he developed relationships with the Simon was very persuasive. He guided on. But the price tag of $1,500 was beyond the Fruchters’ artists, befriending the individual me and gave me the confidence that I budget, and Eli had to leave his beloved painting hanging behind each masterpiece. could do it.” on the wall of the shul’s hall. A particularly memorable friendship Eli attended a weekly tutorial with But the painting stayed in Eli’s mind, where it ignited a has been the one with Itzhak Holtz, a artist John Silver for about a year. Silver passion for art that would eventually develop into a fiery Polish-born Jew who studied art in the tutored Eli in the basics of brush tech- force. With time, Eli was able to act upon that passion and Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in nique and color theory. From there, Eli he began to collect paintings. One of Eli’s first purchases Yerushalayim and New York City’s Na- began to paint his own vision, but there was an oil painting by renowned artist Itzhak Holtz, which tional Academy of Design. His sketches were frustrations in the beginning. “I showed a sofer, his forehead creased in concentration, as feature landscapes and street scenes of wasn’t confident,” he explains. “My work he etched out the letters with his quill. New York, as well as detailed paintings wasn’t flowing.” But Eli kept at it and to- Over the years Faigy Fruchter has learned to make of Jewish scenes. Eli spent many hours day he can paint easily and freely, often peace with her husband filling up the wall space in their with Holtz, observing the artist in his producing a painting in as little as two home and office, but it took time. “In the beginning, it was hard for me when he would come home studio and discussing his favorite sub- weeks. Although he remains an active and bang holes in the walls. But before he would buy a painting, Eli would spend money on ap- ject — painting. entrepreneur and devoted family man, peasing me,” she says, referring to the gift of a piece of jewelry that would herald the arrival of a By the time Eli was 50 years old, he he has produced more than 100 paint- new work of art. had established a name for himself as ings during the past five years. After ten years in Boro Park, the Fruchters moved to the Seagate community in Brooklyn. “I like a collector and dealer in the Jewish art “I don’t work with specific methods,” a quiet neighborhood,” Eli explains. Indeed, this private community by the sea [before much of it world. While at an art exhibit at Yeshiva Eli says. “I work with passion. I can see was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy] is known for both its peaceful atmosphere and for being the University, Eli was introduced to the cel- the subject, and I use my natural intu- home of famous Jewish artists and musicians, including Mordechai Ben David and Yossi Green. ebrated Jewish painter Simon Gaon. An ition to bring it out.” 74 MISHPACHA 6 Teves 5773 | December 19, 2012 MISHPACHA 75 On Site It’s an unusual process, painting with passion and instinct, as opposed to discipline and train- ing. But with his love of light and color, combined with a powerful sense of composition, Eli is able to transmit the stirring visions he sees in his mind onto the canvas. Many of his paintings are familiar scenes from his own life — a New York City park, the Shomer Shabbos shul in Brooklyn, and a street corner in Seagate. His favorite sub- ject, though, is depicting the vibrancy of daily life in Eretz Yisrael — the markets, courtyards, and shuls of his homeland. The colorful, multi-layered brush strokes in Eli’s portraits convey the many facets of his subjects, we do. I see things in a different light.” whether it is a chassidic master, a Sephardic scribe, ART AFTER SANDY Faigy has learned to adjust to the changes in her husband. “I didn’t marry an art- or a beloved grandson. In his still life paintings, Eli’s ist,” she says. “It took time to get used to it.” sensitive eye reveals his connection to Yiddishkeit.