PRESLER PRIVATE MUSEUM IS AN URBAN MUSEUM, WHICH IS LISTED AMONG THE LEADING ART AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS IN ISRAEL. IT IS OWNED BY MR. YIGAL PRESLER, WHO HAS BEEN COLLECTING AND STUDYING ART FOR OVER 20 YEARS.
PRESLER PRIVATE MUSEUM WAS OPENED IN 2013 IN SOUTH TEL-AVIV, IN A THREE-STOREY BUILDING THAT INCLUDES SEVERAL SHOWROOMS, A SEPARATE LIBRARY OF ART BOOKS AND AN EXPANSIVE ROOF OVERLOOKING THE CITY. THE MUSEUM MEETS THE STANDARDS OF A PRESTIGIOUS PUBLIC INSTITUTION IN TERMS OF DISPLAY MEANS, AND IT IS DESIGNED IN A CLASSIC EUROPEAN STYLE. THE MUSEUM AIMS TO RESEARCH, COLLECT, DISPLAY AND PRESERVE WORKS OF ART, BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF ISRAEL. PRESLER PRIVATE MUSEUM IS MOTIVATED BY THE DESIRE TO DECONSTRUCT THINKING PATTERNS AND CLASSIFICATIONS WITH REGARD TO THE HISTORY OF ART, AND TO OFFER A NEW RANGE OF STORIES, ACCENTS AND TRENDS BY EXHIBITING ITS COLLECTIONS. THUS, A PART OF THE MUSEUM’S DOMAIN OF COMPETENCE INCLUDES DISCOVERING, EXPOSING AND PURCHASING OF THE WORKS IT EXHIBITS, IN ORDER TO INTEGRATE THEM IN THE ARTISTIC CONSCIOUSNESS THROUGH DISPLAY AND DISCUSSION.
מוזיאון פרטי פרסלר
Alfons Himmelreich
THE MUSEUM HOLDS A RICH AND RARE COLLECTION OF EARLY 20TH CENTURY WORKS, WHICH ARE LOANED TO THE MOST PROMINENT EXHIBITION INSTITUTIONS IN ISRAEL AND ABROAD. THE COLLECTION FOCUSES ON JEWISH AVANT-GARDE ART IN THE CLASSICAL TRADITION OF THE MODERN MOVEMENT, EXPLORING
"Photo Studio A. Himmelreich"
JEWISHNESS AS AN EMBODIMENT OF INTERNATIONALISM, AND CHARACTERIZED BY WHAT THE ROMANIAN PAINTER M.H. MAXY CALLED A “SPIRIT OF INVENTION, ORGANIZING SYSTEM, SURPRISE, DISSOCIATION, ABSTRACTION… THE ACTUAL VIRTUES OF THE JEWISH PLASTIC ART MIND.”
Kobi karmi
2.5.2013
ALFONS HIMMELREICH 1904-1993 HIMMELREICH WAS BORN IN MUNICH TO A FAMILY OF TEXTILE MERCHANTS, AND WAS HIMSELF A TEXTILE ENGINEER BY TRAINING. HE BEGAN TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS AT THE AGE OF 13; HE STUDIED DRAWING AND SHOWED GREAT INTEREST IN ART HISTORY. HE ALSO BOUGHT BOOKS AND MAGAZINES ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY AND ART. WHEN THE NAZIS CAME TO POWER, HIMMELREICH IMMIGRATED TO ISRAEL. HIS DIPLOMA ALLOWED HIM TO DO SO AS PART OF THE IMMIGRATION CERTIFICATES QUOTA IN MANDATORY PALESTINE. AS HE TRIED TO FIND HIS PLACE IN HIS NEW HOME, HE TRIED MANY JOBS – HE WORKED IN CARPENTRY AND PHOTOGRAPHY, AND EVEN TRIED HIS SKILLS AS A GRAPHOLOGIST. IN 1936, HE MET THE PHOTOGRAPHER HERMAN LERSKY, AND TOGETHER THEY HELD AN EXHIBITION OF CHILDREN PHOTOGRAPHS IN THE MEMORY OF THE NATIONAL POET HAYIM NAHMAN BIALIK. IN THE 1930S, FOLLOWING A MEETING WITH THE ORENSTEIN SISTERS, WHO WERE DANCERS, HIMMELREICH STARTED TO PHOTOGRAPH DANCE. THE SISTERS BECAME HIS CLOSE FRIENDS AND OPENED UP THE WORLD OF DANCE TO HIM. HE PHOTOGRAPHED THEM AND OTHER DANCE GROUPS FROM ISRAEL AND ABROAD, SUCH AS THE GERTRUD KRAUS DANCE COMPANY, THE DANYAH LEṾIN DANCE TROUPE, THE INBAL DANCE COMPANY AND THE AMERICAN TROPICANA DANCE COMPANY. HIS DANCE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE CONSIDERED AMONG THE MOST FAMOUS AND BEST IN ISRAEL. THE IMAGES SEEM TO BE FINELY SCULPTED AND HOVER IN THE AIR AGAINST THE SKY OR THE SEA IN THE BACKGROUND. THERE ARE WORKS THAT INCLUDE AN AGRICULTURAL BACKGROUND THAT DOES NOT USUALLY FIT THE DANCE SETTING. HOWEVER, HIMMELREICH'S JUXTAPOSITION OF DANCERS AGAINST THE FIELDS IMBUES THE PHOTOGRAPHS WITH A ZIONISTIC ELEMENT. IN ADDITION, HIMMELREICH WAS KNOWN WORLDWIDE AS AN EXCEPTIONALLY TALENTED FLORA PHOTOGRAPHER. HE DEALT WITH THE DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OF THE PLANTS, FROM SEED TO BLOOM. HIS PHOTOGRAPHS, PARTICULARLY THOSE OF CACTI IN HIS ROOF GARDEN, WERE EXHIBITED AROUND THE WORLD. HE ALSO FREQUENTLY TRAVELED ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND TOOK PICTURES OF KIBBUTZIM AND REFUGEE ABSORPTION CAMPS. THE EXHIBITION COMBINES PHOTOGRAPHS OF THOSE CAMPS WITH THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHILDREN FROM KIBBUTZ EIN HAROD AND CHILDREN IN KINDERGARTENS OF TEL AVIV. THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE CHILDREN FROM REFUGEE CAMPS AND THE CHILDREN OF EIN HAROD AND TEL AVIV IS OUTSTANDING AND IT REPRESENTS THE HUMAN MOSAIC OF ISRAEL. IT IS EVIDENT THAT HE HAD A “WEAKNESS” FOR PHOTOGRAPHING CHILDREN. PERHAPS THE REASON FOR THAT WERE HIS DAUGHTERS DAPHNE AND KARNI.
IN 1941, HE MOVED TO AN APARTMENT ON 114 ALLENBY STREET, WHERE HE WORKED UNTIL 1982. IT WAS IN THE 1940S THAT HIS ARTISTIC STYLE TOOK A DISTINCT SHAPE. HE WAS STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY GERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY AND WORKS BY LERSKY, ESPECIALLY PORTRAITURE AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF STILL LIFE AND NATURE. IN HIS STUDIO HE OFTEN PHOTOGRAPHED IMPORTANT PEOPLE SUCH AS DAVID BEN GURION, HAYIM WEIZMANN AND MOSHE SHARETT, BUT ALSO MANY UNKNOWN, BUT ASPIRING INDIVIDUALS. SOME OF THE PORTRAITS ARE OF BEAUTIFUL WOMEN THAT WERE USED FOR ADVERTISEMENTS AS WELL. HIS INDUSTRIAL PHOTOGRAPHY HIGHLIGHTS THE EMPOWERMENT OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY THAT HE DEEPLY CARED FOR. THE PICTURES ARE PRESENTED IN A STRONG LIGHTING THAT EMPHASIZES THE OBJECTS AND BUILDINGS. HIS ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND ADVERTISING SHOTS, ESPECIALLY THOSE OF FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS WERE INFLUENCED BY THE BAUHAUS STYLE. THE PICTURES HIGHLIGHT THE CLEAN GEOMETRIC LINES OF THE OBJECTS. HIMMELREICH USED TO DO A LOT OF WORK FOR THE BOURGEOISIE OF TEL AVIV. HE TOOK PICTURES OF VARIOUS CAFES, SUCH AS RAVEL OR THE THREE BLACK MEN ON BIALIK STREET; HE PHOTOGRAPHED BOOKSTORES AND FORD'S STORE IN BEIT HADAR ON PETAH TIKVA WAY. HE DOCUMENTED THE CITY'S EVOLVING NIGHTLIFE, AS WELL. HIMMELREICH WAS NOT CRITICAL AND ACCEPTED THINGS THE WAY THEY WERE; HE ENJOYED WATCHING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY, ALTHOUGH LIFE WAS NOT EASY FOR HIM. THERE IS ALMOST NO SUFFERING PRESENT IN THIS WORKS, EXCEPT FOR A FEW PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE ABSORPTION CAMPS. AT THAT TIME IT WAS NOT CUSTOMARY TO CRITICIZE, AND THE PHOTOGRAPHERS TRIED TO PRESENT EVERYTHING IN A CLEAR, ACCURATE AND OPTIMISTIC WAY. KOBI CARMI