Aviva Uri (1922-1989), Untitled. Charcoal on paper. Signed. 15X16 cm. Framed, 36X37.5 cm with frame. Minor creases and blemishes. Aviva Uri (1922-1989), painter and graphic artist, native of Safed. Studied painting under Moshe Castel and David Hendler; eventually married the latter. Began exhibiting at various venues already in her early active years, quickly attaining prominence in the local art scene. Awarded the Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture in 1952. Her work consistently developed over the years, moving progressively from figurative to abstract. A dominant feature of her oeuvre is "[…] delicate sketching, based in its process on building and relieving tension, relaxing the hand and blocking it, [applying] pressure and hovering, imperviousness and airiness, boldness and softness […], a magnetic field, that builds inside itself the nervous currents of life" (Benjamin Tammuz, Dorith LeVite and Gideon Ofrath, "The Story of Art in Israel, " 1980). Many of the artists of the next generation – including Raffi Lavie, Moshe Gershuni, and others – were profoundly influenced by her work. Provenance: The Uzi Agassi Collection.