Ya'akov Boussidan

(b. 1939)

Ya’akov Boussidan is an Israeli artist whose work encompasses sculpture, ceramics, and printmaking, shaped by a strong engagement with abstraction, symbolism, and cultural narrative. Born in Port Said, Egypt, he emigrated to Israel with his family at the age of ten and was educated through Youth Aliyah at Kibbutz Givat-Chayim. Boussidan studied sculpture and ceramics with Rudi Lehmann and Hedwig Grossman before being awarded a Rothschild Foundation Scholarship, which enabled him to study at Goldsmiths’ College in London. He graduated with distinction, receiving an award at the Biennale for Prints in Monte Carlo for his abstract interpretation of the Song of Songs. During his time in London he moved within an international artistic circle that included figures such as Yoko Ono, Peter de Francia, Claes Oldenburg, and Agathe Sorel, whose work informed his approach to printmaking. His practice attracted literary as well as artistic attention, notably inspiring the Israeli writer and cultural attaché Benjamin Tammuz’s book Bottle Parables. In 1990 Boussidan was awarded the Jesselson Prize of Judaica by the Israel Museum. He has taught as a visiting lecturer at several institutions in England and has since returned to live and work in Israel.